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KAGA’S KINDERGARTEN SCHOOL 













LITTLE PEOPLE 
OE JAPAN 


A STORY OF JAPANESE CHILD-LIFE 


MARY MULLER 

(Lenore E. Mulets) 

AUTHOR OF “LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE SNOW" AND 
“LIFE OF A CHINESE BOY” 



S- 



ILLUSTRATED WITH ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS 
BY 

LAURA B. STARR 



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...CHICAGO... 

A. Flanagan Company 


THF LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 
Two Coptee Received 

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CoPVBIPWT ENTRY 
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CLASS ^XXo No. 

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COPY B. 


Copyright, 1902, 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

What' the Mochi Brought 5 

Naming the Baby - - - - - - 18 

Kaga’s Visit to the Temple ------ 22 

Kaga’s Family and Home 27 

Spirit of the Brook - 38 

After the Funeral 45 

Learning to Walk -------- 80 

How the Peach Boy Destroyed the Demons - - 95 

On the Koad to Nikko - - 122 

Yuki’s Wedding - 139 

After the Wedding 152 

Magic Mirror 158 

How Kaga Learned to Paint - - - - - 169 

Kaga at Play 175 

Kite Flying --------- 184 








LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


WHAT THE MOCHI MAN BROUGHT. 

There was great joy in the homes of 
the Japanese children, for it was New 
Year’s Day. 

New Year’s Day is the greatest hol- 
iday in the year in the country of Ja- 
pan, and the children look forward to 
it with great joy, just as we look 
forward to Christmas. 

On New Year’s Day all the Japanese 
fathers and mothers go on a visit to the 
oldest member of the family and take 
the children and the grandchildren with 
them. 

It is at this time that the Mochi Man 

15 ) 


6 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


comes to the Japanese children, just as 
Santa Claus comes to you. 

The Japanese mothers always make 
some nice candy on the day before 
New Year’s. The children call the candy 
Mochi, because the Mochi Man always 
brings a cook stove and some nice new 
earthen dishes in which to cook the 
candy. 

On New Year’s morning the Japanese 
children awake early to hunt for the 
Mochi, just as you rise early on Easter 
morning to hunt for the bright colored 
Easter eggs; or as, on Christmas morn- 
ing, you rise early to hunt for the candy 
bag down in the foot of the stocking 
which you hung in the chimney place 
the night before. 

But the Mochi Man brought something 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF ’JAPAN. 7 

more than candy to one Japanese home 
on this New Year’s Day. What do you 
think it was ? It was a little, black- 
haired, black-eyed baby brother. 

When the new baby’s brothers and 
sisters saw it first, it was rolled up in a 
bright-colored silk shawl and was lying 
on the floor beside its mother. You 
may think it rather strange that the 
mother and the baby brother should be 
lying on the floor, but that is because 
the Japanese do not have beds as we 
do. They always lie upon the floor, 
with a very hard pillow under their 
heads. You would not have enjoyed 
the new baby’s hard bed, but he thought 
it the very best bed that ever was. 

When the mother showed the new 
baby to the older children and told 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


them that the Mochi Man brought it, 
they jumped into the air and clapped 
their hands for joy. Then they ran to 
awaken the younger brothers and sis- 
ters. 

“Wake up! Wake up!” they cried. 
“The Mochi Man has brought us a little 
baby brother!” 

Then the other children sprang out 
of bed and slipped on their little kimo- 
nos. They didn’t wait to put on their 
tabis or zori, but ran in their bare feet 
to see the new baby! 

How the children laughed and danced 
when they saw the little new baby! 

“The Mochi Man has brought you a 
new brother,” the mother said. She 
spoke in a soft, sweet voice, for that is 
the way all lady-like Japanese mothers 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


9 


speak to the children. And, indeed, the 
J apanese children themselves always 
speakina soft, sweet voice to their par- 
ents and to each other. The Japanese 
value gentle manners above all things, 
and only the very ill bred J apanese ever 
speak in a loud, coarse manner. 

“Let ns take the new baby out of 
doors,” one brother begged. 

“Let me strap him to my back,” beg- 
ged another brother. 

“Let us show him to our playmates,” 
begged the sisters. 

Now New Year’s Day is a great day 
in every Japanese home. A baby’s 
birthday is always a great day. Think, 
then, what a happy family this was 
when a baby’s birthday and New Year’s 
Day came together. The children hardly 


10 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN. 


knew what to do with themselves, they 
were so full of joy. Then, too, there was 
so much going on. There were so many 
errands to run, and so many people 
flocked to the house .to see the new 
baby. 

The baby’s mother lay very quietly 
on her bed during the forenoon, for she 
knew that in the afternoon she must 
sit up and receive visitors. She would 
have to make polite bows to the many 
friends who would come to congratu- 
late her on the birth of a son, and she 
would have to make pretty speeches 
to those who should bring presents to 
the new baby. 

In Japan, as in China, there is more 
rejoicing over the birth of a boy than 
over the birth of a girl. This is partly 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


11 


because the family name is carried only 
by the boys, and, of course, every fam- 
ily is anxious to keep its name alive. 

Long before the children had awak- 
ened, runners had been sent out in all 
directions. Word was sent to all the 
relations that another son was born into 
the family. 

There chanced to be a few relatives 
who lived far, far away; so far that 
it took days to reach them. These re- 
lations could not, of course, come in the 
afternoon to celebrate the birth of the 
new baby. To these, therefore, letters 
were sent, and on the letters was paint- 
ed the family crest. 

Early in the afternoon relatives and 
friends began to come, and each one 
brought a present. ' There were a few 


12 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


friends who could not come because of 
illness or of some very important busi- 
ness, so these sent messengers with 



DELIVERING A PRESENT FOR KAGA. 

presents and with letters full of good 
wishes. 

The new baby was indeed a beauti- 
ful baby. Everybody declared it was 
the most beautiful baby that ever lived. 
All the ladies were eager to take the 
baby up from where it lay beside its 
mother. Each one was eager to hold 



LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


13 


it and to hug it. All kinds of sweet 
things were said about it. Nobody 
kissed it, however, because Japanese 
do not have the fashion of kissing. 

They passed the baby from one to 
another. They rocked it and fondled 
it until the baby was quite tired out. 
More than once it cried, but its mother 
soon hushed it to quiet. A Japanese 
baby seldom cries; for it has loose, com- 
fortable clothes and there are no pins to 
scratch and hurt. 

Perhaps you would not have liked 
the baby’s clothes. Certainly they 
were very different from any baby’s 
clothes that you ever saw. First, a 
little soft silk or cotton kimono was put 
on the baby. Then another, perhaps of 
flannel. Since it was quite a cold day, 


14 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


there was still another kimono. And 
then, last of all, was the beautifully 
embroidered kimono which served as 
the baby’s gown. Around his waist a 
big soft silk sash was tied, and baby 
was dressed for the day. 

It is the fashion in Japan to bathe in 
very warm water twice a day. On 
great festival days the people bathe 
three times a day; and so they did on 
the birthday of the new little brother. 
He himself was given a bath in 
water which was almost boiling hot. 

When the time came for this, the 
nurse took the baby out into the garden 
where the little bath house was built. 
It was a pretty little bath house, with 
a tilted roof and pretty points on the 
corners. Over the little house the 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


15 


branches of trees were bent and twined 
around each other. There were ever- 
greens, too, and they also were trained 
into curious shapes, like those you see 
on Japanese fans. 

It was noonday when the bathing be- 
gan. First, the baby’s oldest brother 
went into the bath; then the next and 
the next and the next, until at last it 
was the baby’s turn. The water was 
very hot. It was nearly 212° and more 
hot water was added every few minutes 
lest it should grow cool. Every child 
had had a good, long bath and had been 
rubbed by the nurse with big blue- 
bordered towels. 

When it was the baby’s turn, the peo- 
ple crowded around the bath house to 
see him take his bath. 


16 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


How the baby screamed and kicked! 
He rolled his eyes and clinched his little 
brown fists; but it was of no use. His 
mother knew very well that, after two 
or three such baths, he would not mind 
the hot water. 

After the bath was over, the baby’s 
father set him down on the mat where 
all the children might watch him. Then 
he crossed the baby’s little legs under 
him, for that is the way the Japanese 
sit instead of sitting upon chairs as we 
do. We should have thought this a 
very queer way to make a baby sit, for 
he looked like one of the little idols 
which the Japanese worship in their 
homes and temples. 

There was a reason why the baby’s 
father set him in this position on his 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


17 


first birth day. It was because he 
wished the baby’s muscles and bones to 
get used to this position so that his legs 
would shorten as he grew up. Short 
legs are the fashion in Japan, just as 
crippled feet are the fashion with ladies 
in China; and, of course, a beautiful 
child, born on Hew Year’s Day, must 
not be neglected and allowed to grow 
up with straight legs. 

His brothers and sisters would have 
been very much ashamed of him if this 
had happened. They took so much 
pains to teach him to sit on his feet, 
with his little knees bent, that, in a few 
months, he would sit that way of him- 
self. Then the children would say, 
“See, our baby brother will have beau- 
tiful short legs!” 


18 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


NAMING THE BABY. 

When the little brown baby was 
seven days old there was a festival day 
in his home. There were no outside 
guests, however, for on this day the 
baby was to be given a name. Only 
the near relatives were invited to this 
festival, for, of course, outside people 
had no part in naming a baby. 

“What shall we name the baby?” was 
the question on the lips of everybody 
in the house. 

“He must be named after the best 
thing in Japan,” the brothers and sis- 
ters declared. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


19 


So one sister said, “Let us name him 
after the plum tree.” And another said, 
“Let us name him after the evergreen.” 

“No,” said the brothers. “Beauti- 
ful names are for girls. A boy must be 
named for something large and strong 
and brave.” 

When the aunts and uncles had ar- 
rived, the family sat down to think of a 
fine name for the baby. They sat very 
still and they thought for a long, long 
time. Even the baby seemed to know 
what they w:ere thinking about, for he 
sat in, his mother’s arms and winked 
very hard at his brothers and sisters. 

At last a name was chosen, kaga, 
which means ! “very brave,”' and baby’s 
mother was sure that he liked it, for he 


20 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


looked up and smiled when she called 
him by his new name. 

By and by, Kaga was set upon a 
little cushion and his feet were tucked 
under him very carefully. Already the 
bones about his knees were beginning 
to bend, and the children were sure he 
would have the shortest legs that any 
Japanese child ever had. 

After the baby was set upon his 
cushion, and his mother had put a beau- 
tiful new embroidered kimono upon 
him, the brothers and sisters brought 
little dishes of luck rice which had 
been cooked with red beans. . At the 
same time the father raised a fish kite 
on a pole above the roof, to tell the 
people that a new son had been born ‘to 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


21 


the happy family which lived within 
the little house. 

“Ah!” said the people, as they watched 
the baby’s father raise the fish kite, 
“See the fish kite above the roof. Good 
luck must have visited that house.” 



KAGA’S VISIT TO THE TEMPLE. 

But the Miya Maeri was the great 
event of the baby’s life, for it was then 
that he paid his first visit to he 
temple. This was at the end of his 
first month, and all sorts of grand plans 
were made for this day. Little Kaga 
was dressed in a fine pink crape ki- 
mono, and it was embroidered with the 
most beautiful flowers you ever saw. 
Why, they looked so natural that the 
butterflies might have made a mistake 
and thought they were real. 

Kaga’s mother and eldest sister had 
embroidered the kimono with gay col- 
ored silks and they had been at work 
upon it ever since the day upon which 
the baby was born. The crest of the 



TORI. ENTRANCE TO WATER TEMPLE. 

meant soul and love. Kaga’s mother 
embroidered the crest on the back, the 
front and on both sleeves of the pink 
crape kimono in bright colored silks. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 23 


family was embroidered on the new 
kimono. This was a muzzled bear sur- 
rounded by a bevy of butterflies, and it 


24 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN 


The father carried Kaga in his arms 
to the Shinto temple* There the patron 
god was offered gifts of the richest sort, 
and prayers were offered asking that the 
patron god might be the special angel 
of the boy through his life. Then the 
parents made presents to the priests, 
who laid their hands upon the baby’s 
head and blessed him. All this time 
the little black haired baby looked up 
at the priests with cunning, bright, 
black eyes, and he laughed as Japanese 
babies always laugh on their own festi- 
val days. 

After this the family returned to 
their own home, and now they had an- 
other party. This time, however, they 
sent out presents instead of receiving 
them. Sometimes these were only lit- 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


25 


tie bowls of red bean rice, such as that 
which was prepared for the seventh day 
celebration. Sometimes little cakes of 
the mochi with sweetened rice paste 
were sent, or perhaps a wine made 
from rice. A letter of thanks was sent 
with the return presents. It was always 
nicely written, and filled with compli- 
ments and kind sayings. Even if the 
present is small, it is welcomed as eag- 
erly and remembered as gratefully as 
costlier gifts ; for no one seems to be 
mean or unkind in Japan. 

Five men were kept busy for two 
days carrying the fish, eggs, rice and 
mochi, as well as other presents, to the 
many friends of the family. 

The rice was sent in beautiful black 
boxes. The boxes were placed on lit- 


26 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


tie lacquered trays such as your mother 
has; and the trays were covered with 
squares of embroidered silk. 

With every present was sent a piece 
of brightly colored paper, folded very 
particularly. No person in Japan likes 
to receive a present unless this gay 
colored paper accompanies it. It is 
called a noski , and is thought to bring 
good luck. Little Kaga’s mother was 
very careful that one went with each 
present. 

The box, the tray, and the cover 
were always returned. The box, more- 
over, was not washed. It would be the 
worst of luck, and the worst of man- 
ners, the Japanese think, to send a 
washed dish hack. 


KAGrA’S FAMILY AND HOME. 


While the children are all busy mak- 
ing ready for the festival, let us take a 
look around the house and see what 



HOW' AND WHERE KAGA’S SISTER SLEEPS. 

kind of people the Amanos were, and 
what kind of a home the new baby 
came to live in. 


27 


28 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


The Amano family was comfortable 
and well-to-do. It was a family which 
had held a fine place in the old days be- 
fore the war (which took place thirty- 
two years ago, when there was a Mi- 
kado instead of an Emperor). Papa 
Amano was greatly pleased when the 
Mikado was changed to Emperor. He 
believed it would make a happier gov- 
ernment for Japan. 

And so, when the new government 
was settled, Amano was given a fine 
position. He now met many people 
from England, Russia, America, and 
France, who came into Japan from 
year to year to buy the beautiful 
silks, the teas, the dyes, the sulphur, 
and the various manufactured articles 
for which the country is so famous. 


KAGA’S HOME IN THE COUNTRY, 













30 LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN. 

Amano’s wife, the baby’s mother, was 
the tiniest and prettiest little woman you 
ever saw. She was the daughter of a 
Samurai, who had learned how to make 
tea in all the different ways known to 
Japanese society in olden times. She 
could tell the names of all the incenses, 
and there are hundreds of them. Indeed, 
she always won the prize at the incense 
parties, just as your mamma might win 
a prize at a whist party; 

She could embroider in most beauti- 
ful fashion, and her housemaids loved 
her. They paid her the deference due 
a queen, for she was very dignified and 
calm and stately, as became the mistress 
of the house. With her children, how- 
ever, she was • the merriest, dearest 
mother you ever saw. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


31 


She always found time to play with 
her children; and she knew the boys’ 
games almost as well as the girls’ 
games. When she was a child she 
had an etiquette lesson to learn every 
day, and she had to arrange the flowers 
before the kakemono in a way which 
would be pleasing to her dead ances- 
tors. 

Then, too, she had been the pet and 
favorite of her father and elder brothers. 
When the guests arrived in the absence 
of her parents, she knew how to receive 
them and entertain them until her pa- 
rents arrived. 

She learned, when very young, the 
lessons of cheerful obedience, of pleas- 
ing manners, and of cleanliness and 
neatness. She was so carefully trained 


32 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


by her mother and teachers that, even 
when she was most sorrowful, she would 
smile; and, when she was most dis- 
pleased, she would not show her auger 
or allow her voice to change from the 
soft and cooing tone in which a Japan- 
ese lady always speaks. 

I am sure you would like to know 
something about the home of Kaga and 
his gentle mother. So I will tell you 
about it. The beds, which are w T added 
cloth or straw mats, are spread each 
night on the floor, for the Japanese have 
no bedsteads. On the mats little wooden 
pillows are placed, and in the hollow 
part of these the head rests, on a small 
cushion. 

Through the long night each head 
lies on its wooden pillow. There is no 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


33 


tossing about, no turning of pillows, and 
there are no pillow fights such as you 
love to have. 

In the morning Kaga’s sister found 
that her hair, which was combed and 
puffed and ornamented with long ivory 
or silver pins, looked almost as smooth 
and beautiful as when it was first 
combed. 

“It will do for several days yet,” she 
would say to herself, as she patted the 
rolls of soft black hair into shape. 

Every morning the Japanese beds 
have to be rolled up and stored away 
in the queer little closets under the 
windows. Then the rooms have to be 
swept, dusted and aired before break- 
fast. 

The piazza, or porch, must be washed 


34 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


and polished, for the piazza is a part 
of the house. It runs around just 
inside the sliding shutters which are 
closed at night only. 

After the beds are stored away, and 
the rooms and piazza made ready for 
the day, the breakfast must be cooked 
and served. Then the dishes are washed 
in cold water and the marketing is done 
as the various venders call; for, in Japan, 
the markets go to the people. 

Kaga’s sisters learned to .sew; for 
their dresses had to be taken to pieces 
to be washed. It did not take long, 
however, to put them together again; 
for there were few seams, and the 
dresses were sewed with long basting 
stitches. 

They had a few kimonas which could 


LPFTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


35 


be washed without taking apart. These 
were hung up by thrusting bamboo 
poles through the wide sleeves. You 
can imagine what a funny sight these 
gayly colored kimonas made, flapping 
wildly in the breeze. 

Kaga’s mother used to attend all the 
wonderful flower festivals which cele- 
brate the blossoming of the plum-tree, 
the cherry-tree, the chrysanthemum, the 
iris, or the lotus; and she often told 
her children about them. She loved 
the feast of dolls the most, though. This 
comes on the third day of the third 
month of the year. Then all the dolls of 
the family are brought out of their great 
fireproof safes to visit each other. Some 
of the dolls were more than a hundred 
years old. These great-grandmother 


36 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


dolls brought all their tiny furniture 
and dishes with them, and the red col- 
ored shelves of the finest room in the 
house were fitted up for them. 

The dolls in this family had been 
accumulating for hundreds of years. 
There were so many of them that they 
filled six broad shelves, twenty feet 
long. There were the beautiful em- 
press and emperor dolls, as well as the 
five court musicians; and every year 
these were treated to a feast from those 
dishes to which they were accustomed. 

When her own little children were 
born, Kaga’s mamma often wished she 
could give her dolls to them, but she 
could not, for her oldest brother 
must inherit all her toys, except 
those which were sent with her to 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


37 


her husband’s house on her wedding 
day. 

Since she could not bring the dolls to 
her new home, she was always careful 
to provide fine bullock carts, or palan- 
quins, drawn by bow-legged black bulls, 
in which the dolls might travel ’on the 
great festival day. She also provided 
tiny silver fire boxes with tongs and 
charcoal baskets. Indeed, she often 
provided everything required for cook- 
ing the feast. N or did she forget comb 
and mirrors, brushes for blacking the 
teeth, razors for shaving the eyebrows, 
red powders for the lips, and white for 
the face, — in fact, such things as all 
Japanese dolls need and must have on 
their festival day. 


THE SPIRIT OE THE BROOK. 

There was the dearest grandmother 
in this home to which the new baby 
had come ! Her name was 0 Ba San 
and she was just the nicest grandmother 
in all the world, the children thought; 
for always, upon her- return fronj the 
village, she would bring candy or toys, 
and she was never too busy to talk to 
the children or to help them with their 
lessons. 

The grandma in a Japanese home 
has much more time than the mother, 
for she did all her hard work earlier in 
her life when she was the loving and 
obedient servant of her mother-in-law. 
The Amano children gladly paid hom- 
age to this good grandmother, for there 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN 


39 


was always a smile for them on her 
small, wrinkled face. 

Grandmother did not dress in black 
even though she was quite old ; but she 
dressed in soft 
browns and drabs, 
with perhaps a bit 
of darker silk on 
the collar of her 
kimono. The 
children loved to 
go with her to the 
door, and they al- 
ways s h o u t e d 
gleefully, “0 
Kaeri!” upon her 
return. Then they and all the ser- 
vants would hasten to the gate to 



ONE OF KAGA’S SISTERS. 


40 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


greet her and help her into the 
house. 

One day, upon the children’s return 
from school, she called them- to her and 
gave them a tiny silver mirror which 
she had used all her life. Its face had 
a high polish and the children were de- 
lighted when they saw their own faces 
in it. On the back of the mirror were 
wonderful pictures of writhing serpents, 
intertwined and twisting around the 
edges, and even peeping over the rim. 
They did not seem like angry serpents. 
Instead, they were quite beautiful, for 
their tiny scales made pretty bands of 
color around the glass. 

It was a magic mirror which the 
Shinto priest had sold to her mother- 
in-law a great many years before. The 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF .JAPAN. 


41 


priest had placed a charm upon it so 
that, if anyone looked within it, those 
whom they loved would look within 
it also, even though sometimes their 
faces could not be seen. 

The grandmother told the oldest boy 
that she was a very old woman now, 
and as he was the oldest son she would 
like to give the mirror to him. “ Keep 
it,” she said, “until your wedding day; 
then give it to your wife.” She also 
told this son that the next day she in- 
tended to see a fortune teller. “I have 
not been feeling very well for several 
months,” she said, “and I fear that there 
is some witchcraft about it. I must get 
a charm which will cure me and make 
me well.” 

When she came back from the for- 


42 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


tune teller’s she said, “I made a mistake 
when I directed that the brook should 
be dammed up and made into little 
waterfalls. The fortune teller has told 
me that the spirit of the brook com- 
plained at being choked in this way and 
that it wishes to be released from im- 
prisonment.” 

Amano could not believe that such a 
simple thing would grieve the spirit of 
the brook, but he would not disobey the 
wish of his mother. So he ordered the 
servants to take away the stones which 
had been placed there, and to tile over 
the bed of the brook so that the spirit 
might pass to and fro at will. 

The children, with their grandmother, 
watched the work in the garden, day 
by day, with great pleasure, and thewa- 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


■13 

ter rippled and sparkled over the many 
colored pieces of porcelain. But even 
as she watched the old lady complained 
that her head ached; and sorrowful in- 
deed were the little folks to hear this, 
for it showed that the spirit of the brook 
was still angry. 

In vain the children went up to the 
Shinto temple, carrying their most pre- 
cious toys and gifts in exchange for the 
paper prayers and incense which were 
burned by the priest. The old drug- 
gist and doctor mixed many strange 
medicines, but none of them seemed to 
make dear 0 Ba San any better. 

One beautiful morning in August the 
children woke to hear the servants wail- 
ing. They were all dressed in white, and 
the children knew at once that while 


44 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN. 


grandmother 0 Ba San was dead, she 
would come back and live among them, 
but they could never see her dear face 
again, nor tell her how much they loved 
her. 



AFTER THE FUNERAL. 

They added a new image to those 
already upon the Wall of the best room 
where all the honored ancestors have 
their banners hung. They placed in 
the vases beautiful branches . of sakaki, 
a sort of sacred japonica, which is 
much used at funerals and in the decor- 
ation of graves. 

It seemed as if even the spirits of the 
clouds were sorry, for the rain came 
down in torrents on the day of the fun- 
eral. The poor little children cried 
very bitterly, for they remembered how 
sometimes they had been angry when 
she corrected them. They would have 
given a great deal if they could forget 

45 


46 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


ROAD LEADING TO CEMETERY OF NAGASAKI. STONE 
LANTERN BY ROADSIDE. 

house which had been built for her people 
in the cemetery of Aoyama. Sometime, 
by and by, so the older people thought, 



it, though the dear grandmother had 
forgiven them long before. 

But now she was being carried away 
from the porch door to the narrow stone 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


47 


it will be she who will cry,“Kaeri!” when 
they too came within its portals, the 
same word of welcome which they had 
been wont to give her when she came 
back from her little visits to the town. 

They would never be able to help her 
again; but, unseen, she would dwell 
among them, with the other unseen an- 
cestor spirits of the house. She would 
hear the words of love and sorrow when 
they spoke. She would see their tears 
at her loss; she would watch how faith- 
fully they performed the duties of re- 
spect and honor to her, and she would 
know that her shrine had flowers and 
burning incense always upon it. 

The cemetery was crowded with the 
dear grandmother’s friends, and all the 
family assembled with long white ban- 


48 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


ners, upon which were inscribed her 
many virtues. The priests were there 
in their gorgeous robes, and they 
chanted words from a sacred book, while 
great clouds of incense filled the air. 

In the temple were gold and bronze 
idols, which looked down from their 
high places upon the family. 

Over the grave of 0 Ba San they 
placed a toro or garden lantern. It 
was made of stone, and very gracefully 
carved into a quaint and beautiful 
shape. It was taller than a man’s head 
and its light flickered brightly through 
the trees. 

“Every night, from sunset till sunrise, 
the toro shall give light to the spirit of 
0 Ba San,” they said. 

The house seemed so lonely now that 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


49 


the children could not even play their 
games. Then the oldest sister' gath- 
ered the other children around her and 
told them they might go and plant flow- 
ers on 0 Ba San’s grave, and that each 
evening they might take turns in light- 
ing the toro. 

Then, in order to help them forget 
their grief, she told them the following 
story of the two brothers. 

SCHIPPEITAEO. 

Long, long ago, in the days of fairies 
and giants, ogres and dragons, valiant 
knights and distressed damsels — in those 
good old days, a brave young warrior 
went forth into the wide world in search 
of adventures. 

For some time he went on without 


50 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


meeting with anything out of the com- 
mon; but at length, after journeying 
through a thick forest, he found him- 
self one evening on a wild and lonely 
mountain side, hlo village was in 
sight, no cottage, or even the hut of a 
charcoal burner, so often to be found 
on the outskirts of a forest. He had 
been following a faint and much over- 
grown path, but at length he lost sight 
of even that. 

Twilight was coming on, and in vain 
he sought to recover the lost track. 
Each effort seemed to entangle him 
only the more hopelessly in the briars 
and tall grasses which grew thickly on 
all sides. Eaint and weary, he stum- 
bled on in the fast gathering darkness 
until suddenly he came upon a little 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


51 


temple, deserted and half ruined, but 
which still contained a shrine. 

Here at least was shelter from the 
chilly dews, and here he resolved to pass 
the night. He had no food, but, 
wrapped in his mantle, and with his 
good sword by his side, he lay down 
and was soon fast asleep. 

Towards midnight he was awakened 
by a dreadful noise. At first he thought 
it must be a dream, but the noise con- 
tinued, the whole place resounding with 
shrieks and yells. 

The young warrior raised himself 
cautiously and, seizing his sword, looked 
through a hole in the ruined wall. He 
beheld a strange and awful sight. A 
troop of hideous cats were engaged in 
a wild dance, their yells meanwhile 



THE STRANGE CAT DANCE. 


52 





LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


S3 


echoing through the night. Mingled 
with their unearthly cries the young- 
warrior could clearly distinguish the 
words : 

“Tell it not to Schippeitaro, 

Keep it close and dark, 

Tell it not to Schippeitaro.” 

A beautiful, clear, full moon shed its 
light upon this grewsome scene which 
the young warrior watched with amaze- 
ment and horror. Suddenly, the mid- 
night hour being passed, the phantom 
cats disappeared, and all was silence 
once more. The rest of the night passed 
undisturbed, and he sleot soundly till 
morning. 

By the bright morning light he pres- 
ently discovered traces of a path which 
the evening before had been invisible. 


54 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


This he followed, and found to his great 
joy that it led — not, as he had feared, 
into the forest through which he had 
come the day before, but in the oppo- 
site direction towards an open plain. 
There he saw one or two scattered cot- 
tages, and, a little further on, a village. 

Pressed by hunger, he was making 
the best of his way towards the village 
when he heard the tones of a woman’s 
voice loud in lamentation and entreaty. 
ISTo sooner did these sounds of distress 
reach the warrior’s ears than his hunger 
was forgotten and he hurried on to the 
nearest cottage to find out what was 
the matter, and if he could give any 
help. 

The people listened to his questions. 
Shaking their heads sorrowfully, they 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


55 


told him that all help was in vain. 
“Every year,” said they, “the Mountain 
Spirit claims a victim. The time has 
come, and this very night will he de- 
vour our loveliest maiden. This is the 
cause of the wailing and lamentation.” 

And when the young warrior, filled 
with wonder, enquired further, they 
told him that at sunset the victim would 
be put into a sort of cage, carried to 
that very ruined temple where he had 
passed the night, and there left alone. 
In the morning she would have vanished. 
So it was each year and so it would be 
now. There was no help for it. 

As he listened, the young warrior 
was filled with an earnest desire to de- 
liver the maiden. And the mention of 
the ruined shrine having brought back 


56 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


to his mind the adventure of the night 
before, he asked the people whether 
they had ever heard the name of Schip- 
peitaro and who and what he was. 

“Schippeitaro is a strong and beauti- 
ful dog,” was the reply. “He belongs 
to the head man of our prince who lives 
only a little way from here. W e often 
see him following his master. He is a 
fine, brave fellow.” 

The young knight did not stop to ask 
any more questions, but hurried off to 
Schippeitaro’s master and begged him 
to lend him his dog for one night. At 
.first the man was unwilling, but at 
length he agreed to lend Scliippeitaro 
on condition that he should be brought 
back the next day. Overjoyed, the 
young warrior led the dog away. 



THE YOUNG WARRIOR AND SCHIPPEITARO. 


57 


58 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Next he went to see the parents of 
the unhappy maiden, and told them to 
keep her in the house, and watch her 
carefully until his return. Then he 
placed the dog Schippeitaro in the cage 
which had been prepared for the maid- 
en, and with the help of some of the 
young men of the village carried it to 
the ruined temple and there set it down. 

The young men refused to stay one 
moment on that haunted spot and hur- 
ried down the mountain as if the whole 
troop of hobgoblins were at their heels. 
The young warrior and his companion, 
the dog, remained to see what would 
happen. 

At midnight, when the full moon 
was high in the heavens and shed her 
light over the mountain, came the phan- 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


59 


tom eats once more. This time they 
had among them a huge black tom 
cat, fiercer and more terrible than all 
the rest, and which the young warrior 
had no difficulty in knowing as the 
frightful mountain fiend himself. No 
sooner did this monster catch sight of 
the cage than he danced and sprang 
around it with yells of triumph and 
hideous joy, followed by his compan- 
ions. 

When he had jeered at and taunted 
his victim long enough he threw open 
the door of the cage. 

But this time he met his match. The 
brave Schippeitaro sprang upon him, 
and, seizing him with his teeth, held 
him fast until the young warrior, with 
one stroke of his sword, laid the mon- 


60 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


ster dead at his feet. As for the other 
cats, too much astonished to fly, they 
stood gazing at the dead body of their 
leader ; the knight and Schippeitaro 
made short work of them. 

The young warrior brought back the 
dog to his master, with a thousand 
thanks, told the father and mother of 
the maiden that their daughter was free, 
and the people of the village that the 
fiend had claimed his last victim, and 
would trouble them no more. 

‘‘You owe all this to the brave Schip- 
peitaro,” he said as he bade them fare- 
well, and went his way in search of 
fresh adventures. 

now THE RABBIT CAUGHT THE BADGER. 

“Do tell us another story, sister!” 
cried the children. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN 


61 


• The elder sister looked into the chil- 
dren’s round little faces and smiled. 
Then she told this story : 

A white Rabbit once lived in a shel 
tered place in the mountains. He 
was said to be very wise. An old 
man and his wife also had a home on 
the mountain side. When the old man 
worked in his field or chopped trees 
for his fire, the Rabbit often sat beside 
him and told him stories. 

One day the old man came out on 
the mountain side looking very sad. 

“What is the matter?” asked the Rab- 
bit, hopping up and seating himself on 
a stone in front of the old man. 

“Oh!” said the old man, “we are in 
great trouble. My wife is hurt and ill, 
and I cannot find the one who hurt her,” 



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LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


63 


“Tell me about it,” said the Rabbit. 
“Perhaps I can help you.” 

“You know,” said the old man, “that 
each day, as I work, my old wife brings 
my dinner to me in the field. Yesterday 
there was a fine roast chicken and a rice 
cake in the basket. My wife set the 
basket beside the tree stump where I 
always find it, and returned home. When 
I came for my dinner the basket was 
not there.” 

“What had become of it?” asked the 
Rabbit. 

“The Badger had stolen it,” said the 
old man. “I knew at once that it was 
his work, for I had often seen him about, 
and I knew his tricks. I watched all 
day and just at nightfall I caught him 
coming quietly up to the stump again. 


64 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“I sprang out and caught the Badger 
before ho could escape. Then I carried 
him home, hung him up to the rafters, 
and told my wife to cook him for our 
supper. Afterwards I went away again 
to the forest. 

“When I was gone my wife went 
about her work. As she pounded the 
barley for bread she sang. The Bad- 
ger hanging from the rafters heard her, 
and he began to beg for his life. 

“ ‘ Let me down!’ he begged; ‘only let 
me down and I will pound your barley 
for you. Let me down and I will help 
you at your work.’ 

“‘No,’ said my wife, ‘I cannot let you 
down. You would be sure to run 
away.’ 

“ ‘Indeed,’ said the Badger ? ‘ I would 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


65 


only help you at your work. It is tire- 
some to hang here from the rafters by 
my tail all day long.’ 

“He begged so hard and promised so 
faithfully that at last my wife pitied him. 
She untied the cord and let him down. 

“The Badger took her place and began 
to pound the barley. But the moment 
my wife turned her back, he took the 
heavy stick with which he was pounding 
the barley and struck her over the head. 

“She fell to the floor and the Badger 
escaped, locking the door behind him so 
that my wife might not overtake him. 

“In the evening, when I returned from 
my work, I heard my wife sobbing and 
crying. 

“I hastened to the door and found it 
locked and the key on the outside. 


66 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“Unlocking the door, I entered and 
found my wife lying on the floor with 
her head all bruised and bleeding. She 
was sobbing with grief and pain. 

“ ‘Who has done this?’ I cried. 

“ ‘Alas!’ said she, ‘the wicked Badger 
promised to help me, and see what he 
has done.’ 

“‘I will have my revenge!’ I cried. ‘I 
will catch the wicked Badger again and 
he shall be punished for his cruel 
deeds!’ 

“I bathed my wife’s head and she 
stopped sobbing and slept. 

“Then I started at once in search of 
the Badger, but he had been long gone. 
I fear he has left the mountain, for I 
have searched everywhere and cannot 
find him.” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


67 


When the old man had finished the 
story he buried his face in his hands 
and wept. 

“Don’t!” said the Rabbit, hopping up 
to his side; “don’t give up. I will 
help you!” 

“ What can you do?” asked the old 
man. 

“If you will do just as I say, you will 
soon see how I shall find the Badger,” 
replied the Rabbit. 

“I will do just as you wish,” said the 
old man. 

“First,” said the Rabbit, “bring me 
some beans. Let them be nicely 
parched so that they will smell good 
to the Badger.” 

“What!” cried the old man, “are you 
going to feed the Badger?” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“If you will do as I tell you, I will 
help you,” said the Rabbit. “If you 
will not do as I tell you, you may help 
yourself.” 

“I will do as you wish,” the old man 
said again. He went at once and 
parched the beans until they were hot 
and brown. Then he carried them to 
the Rabbit. He was still sitting on the 
stone where the old man had left him, 
fanning himself with a bright paper 
fan. 

“Have you brought the beans?” he 
asked. 

“Here they are,” said the old man. 

The Rabbit took the beans and put 
them in the pocket of his sleeve. Then 
he. took up his mountain staff and 
started up the mountain side. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


69 


“Now I will find the Badger for 
you,” he said. 

The Rabbit had not gone far when 
he saw something move beside a stone. 
He looked in the other direction and 
pretended not to see anything; but he 
shook the bag so that the smell of the 
parched beans was stronger than ever. 

At last, just as the Rabbit expected, 
the Badger came out from behind the 
stone. 

“What have you in the bag?” he asked. 

“I am traveling over the mountain,” 
said the Rabbit. “I have these parched 
beans for my dinner.” 

“I am very hungry,” said the Bad- 
ger. “Will you not give me one handful 
of those beans?” 

“I will if you will carry this bundle 


70 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


of grass for me to the other side of the 
mountain. I need it for my fire.” 

“I will gladly carry the grass for you,” 
said the Badger; “but first give me the 
parched beans, for I am very hungry.” 

“Oh, no,” said the Rabbit. “You 
promised the old woman to pound her 
barley and then you ran away. I will 
give you the beans after you have car- 
ried the bundle of dry grass over the 
mountain for me.” 

The Badger begged and begged for 
the beans. 

“Give me just five beans,” he said. 

“ I will give you five handfuls 
after you have carried the load of dry 
grass over the mountain,” said the Rab- 
bit. 

At last the Rabbit piled a great load 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 71 

of dry grass on the Badger’s back. 
Then the Badger set off up the moun- 
tain, the Rabbit following close behind 
him. 

Presently the Rabbit took out his 
flint and, holding it close to the bundle 
of dry grass, he struck out a spark. 

The Badger started in alarm at the 
noise. 

“What is that?” he cried to the Rabbit. 

“Oh, don’t you know that sound?” 
said the Rabbit. “That is Kachi- 
Kachi Mountain [Mountain of Vic- 
tory]. Do not be alarmed.” 

Soon the grass began to burn and 
crackle as the flames crept in among 
the long stems and dry twigs. 

“What is that?” cried the Badger 
again, when he heard this noise. 


72 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


The Rabbit laughed loudly. 

“Don’t you know that sound?” he 
said. “That is Bo-Bo Mountain [Moun- 
tain of Defeat]. Do not be alarmed.” 

The grass still burned and crackled 
and the flames crept closer and closer 
to the Badger’s back. Soon the fire 
began to scorch and burn his back. 

“Oh, oh, oh!” cried the helpless Bad- 
ger, and he rolled on his back until at 
last he worked the load off. He then 
went crying over the mountain. 

The Rabbit went back to the straw 
hut of the old man, whom he found 
putting a bandage on his wife’s head. 

The Rabbit bowed so low that his 
ears touched the floor. Then he 
laughed loudly as he threw the bag of 
beans to the old man. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN 


73 


“Here are your beans,” he said. 

“But the Badger?” cried the old 
man and his wife together, “the wicked 
Badger? Ah! we feared that you could 
not find him.” 

Then, still laughing,, the Rabbit sat 
down on a straw mat and told them 
how he had hired the Badger to carry 
the load of dry grass over the mountain. 

He also told them about Kachi- 
Kachi Mountain and Bo-Bo Mountain, 
and how the Badger had rolled on the 
grass and cried in pain. 

“Hood! Glood!” cried the old man. 

“But that is not enough,” said the 
old woman, whose head still pained 
her. 

“Very well!” said the Rabbit, “the 
Badger shall be punished still more. 


74 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Make for me a sticking plaster of mus- 
tard and red pepper.” 

“Not for my head?” cried the old 
woman in alarm. 

“No,” said the Rabbit, “for our friend 
the Badger.” Then they all three 
laughed loudly. 

The old woman made the plaster 
thick with mustard and red pepper. 

Then the Rabbit put the mustard 
and pepper plaster in his beautiful 
black lacquered box. 

“I am now Doctor Rabbit,” he said 
with a laugh, and he took up his box 
and his umbrella and fan and went away. 

When the Rabbit came to the home 
of the Badger he found him lying on 
his mats on the floor in great pain. 

The Badger did not recognize the 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 75 

Rabbit, but when he saw the black case 
he was sure that a doctor had come to 
see him. 

“Oh doctor,” cried the Badger, “give 
me something to put on my back. Have 
you any fresh plasters?” 

“Oh yes, indeed,” replied the Rabbit, 
“I have some plasters which have just 
been made. Do you wish me to put 
one on your back?” 

“Yes, do,” said the Badger. 

So the Rabbit put a great plaster on 
the Badger’s back. Soon the plaster 
began to make his back smart, and 
burn. • 

“Take it off! Take it off!” shouted 
the Badger ; but the Rabbit laughed 
and ran away to the home of the old 
couple. He told them how he had put 


76 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


the plaster on the Badger’s back and 
made him howl and cry with pain. 

“Good! good!” cried the old man. 

“Good! good!” cried the old woman. 
But just at that moment she struck her 
bruised head against the shelf on the 
wall. Then she remembered how 
cruelly the Badger had hurt her. 

“That is not enough!” she -said. “The 
Badger should be punished still more.” 

“Very well,” said the Rabbit. “He 
shall be punished again. Make for me 
a beautiful boat of cedar wood. When 
it is done, put it beside the river. Then 
come and tell me.” 

“We will do as you say,” said the old 
man and the old woman together. But 
it was a whole week before the boat 
was finished and placed beside the river. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


77 


“The boat is ready,” said the old man 
to the Rabbit. 

The Rabbit took the boat and went 
far up the river. He carried a fish net, 
and he sang as he floated along. 

How, by this time the Badger’s back 
had healed. As he was walking beside 
the river he heard the Rabbit singing. 
“What sound is that?” he said to him- 
self, and then he crept down to the 
river’s brink and saw the Rabbit in his 
boat. 

“What are you doing?” asked the 
Badger. 

“I am fishing,” said the Rabbit. 

“Will you not give me some fish for 
my dinner?” asked the Badger. 

“Yes, if you will come out and get 
them,” said the Rabbit. 


78 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“But I have no boat,” said the Badger. 

“Make one,” said the Rabbit. 

Now the Badger knew nothing of 
boatmaking or fishing. He looked at 
the Rabbit’s boat. 

“It is the color of clay,” he said to 
himself. “I will make one of clay, too.” 

In an hour the clay boat was finished 
and the Badger got in. 

“I am coming for the fish,” he cried 
to the Rabbit. . 

“Come on,” said the Rabbit, chuckling 
to himself. “If you will come and get 
them, you may have all that I have 
caught.” 

The Badger paddled as fast as he 
could, because he was so eager to get 
the fish. 

He had just reached the middle of 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 79 

the stream, where the current was swift- 
est, when, his clay boat began to go to 
pieces. 

“Help! help!” cried the Badger, but 
the current had already carried him 
far out of the Rabbit’s reach. 

In a moment the clay boat and the 
Badger had sunk out of sight. 

That night the Rabbit went home 
and told the old man and old woman ; 
of the fate of the wicked Badger. 

“Grood! good!” said the old man. 

“He only received punishment for i 
his wickedness,” said the old woman. 



LEARNING TO WALK. 

Little Kaga’s brothers and sisters 
loved him so much that he hardly found 
time to sleep. The younger children, 


HOW KAGA TRAVELED BEFORE HE COULD WALK. 

first one and then another, would get 

their mother to let them carry him pick- 

80 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


81 


a-back while they were out playing. 
And every day Kaga grew fatter and 
stronger and more beautiful. 

He liked to clutch at the neck of his 
sister’s kimono with his little brown 
hands and spread his little legs so that 
his feet twined into the obi at her waist. 
He looked like a laughing monkey, with 
his head bobbing this way and that as 
he played at peek-a-boo with the other 
children from behind his sister’s neck. 
Sometimes he would fall asleep in this 
position, and then his sister, Yone Santo, 
would play some very quiet game so 
that she might not wake him. 

At last there came a time when the 
children thought Kaga ought to learn 
to walk. He had never learned to be 
afraid of falling, as there was no furni- 


82 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


ture jutting out at all sorts of angles in 
his home. For in a Japanese house 
everybody sits on mats upon the floor; 
and even the tables, so pretty and small, 
are tucked away into closets as soon 
as a meal is finished. 

Up to this time Kaga had worn only 
the soft tabi — a stocking shaped like a 
mitten with a sort of thumb in which 
the big toe is placed. But now his 
father bought for him his first pair of 
geta — a sort of higli-heeled wooden 
sandal, with a strap which passed be- 
tween his big toe and the other toes in 
the tabi and fastened around his ankles. 

This seemed a queer kind of shoe to 
Kaga, and it appeared to him very 
much like walking on stilts. He was 
very proud of his new shoes, however, 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


83 


and there was a comical look on his 
face when he fell down two or three 
times. He found it hard to get up ; but 
it was not long before he had learned 
to balance himself, and the clack, clack, 
clack of his little geta was soon heard 
in every part of the house. 

By and by he could run and jump, 
and hop on one foot, even alter the 
straps were taken from around his 
ankles and he had to hold the geta on 
by his big toe. . By wearing shoes like 
these the Japanese learn to use their 
big toes like thumbs; indeed, were you 
to travel in Japan, you would find that 
carpenters and tailors can hold their 
work quite firmly with their toes. This 
is very handy, for they can use both 
hands where you could use only one. 


84 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


AllKaga’s kimonos were now changed 
from the red and yellow of babyhood 
to the blues, grays, greens and browns 
in which a boy must always be dressed. 
There was not a white dress in all his 
wardrobe, for white is worn only at 
funerals and other sad times. His ki- 
monos of padded silk were not washed 
as often as our babies’ clothes are 
washed, but he had a great many more 
of them and so each had a chance to be 
cleansed and aired in other ways. 

When Kaga began to talk, he found 
the first words in Japanese very easy. 
If he wanted to say “no” he had to say 
“Iya”; and he cried, “mamma” when he 
wanted food. If he wanted to wear his 
prettiest dress he asked for “bebe,” and 
if he wanted new socks he said “tata.” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


85 


By and by Kaga had a mouthful of 
little white teeth and his nurse and 
mamma declared his smile the pret- 
tiest they had ever seen. 

Once, when his second teeth were 
growing, he had a dreadful toothache 
and cried all night long. Of course the 
tooth had to be taken out by the dentist. 
But how do you think it was taken out? 
N ot by a hard tooth-puller such as you 
saw when you went to the dentist. The 
Japanese dentist just caught hold of 
the tooth with his thumb and finger, 
and he took it out so deftly that little 
Kaga was hardly frightened or hurt. 

By the time Kaga was five years old, 
he was the finest and healthiest little 
boy you ever saw. He made the most 
of his holidays, for he was soon to be 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


sent to school. He thought he should 
like to go to school very much; for his 
old nurse had told him that he should 
have nothing to do but listen all day 
long to wise words and wonderful stories 
such as she herself often told him. 

W ould you like to hear some of these 
stories which the nurse told to Kaga? 
Often the older children would read 
this same story from their pretty little 
picture books, which are printed on 
crinkly paper and which have wonder- 
ful pictures. Here is one of the stories 
which the Japanese children find very 
interesting. 

THE FISHER-BOY URASHIMA. 

Long, long ago, there lived on the 
coast of the sea of Japan a young fisher- 
man named Urashima. He was a kind- 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


87 


hearted lad, and was very clever with 
his rod and line. 

One day he went out in his boat to 
fish. But, instead of fish, what do you 
suppose he caught? Why, a great big 
tortoise with a hard shell and a funny, 
wrinkled old face. Now I must tell you 
something which very likely you don’t 
know, and that is, that tortoises live a 
thousand years — at least Japanese tor- 
toises do. So Urashima thought to 
himself, “A fish would do for my dinner 
just as well as this tortoise — in fact 
better. Why should I kill the poor 
thing, and prevent it from enjoying 
itself for another nine hundred and 
ninety-nine years? No, no! I will not 
be so cruel.” And with these words he 
threw the tortoise back into the sea. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Then Urashima went to sleep in his 
boat, for it was a hot summer day. As 
he slept there came up from beneath 
the waves a beautiful girl. She climbed 
into his boat and said: “I am the 
daughter of the Sea-God, and I live 
with my father in the Dragon-Palace 
beyond the waves. It was not a tortoise 
that you so kindly threw back into the 
water without killing. It was I. My 
father, the Sea-God, sent me to see 
whether you are good or bad. We now 
know that you are a good, kind boy, and 
that you do not like to do cruel things. 
And so I have come to take you to my 
home, and we shall live happily together 
for a thousand years in the Dragon- 
Palace beyond the deep blue sea.” 

So Urashima took one oar and the 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


89 


Sea-God’s daughter took the other, and 
they rowed till at last they came to the 
Dragon-Palace. There the Sea-God 
lived and ruled like a king over all the 
dragons, the tortoises, and the fishes. 

What a lovely place it was! The 
walls of the palace were of coral, the 
trees had emeralds for leaves and 
rubies for berries. The fishes’ scales 
were of silver, and the dragons’ tails of 
solid gold. 

HereUrashima and the princess lived 
happily for three years, wandering every 
day among the beautiful trees with their 
emerald leaves and ruby berries. But 
one morning Urashima said to the 
princess : 

“I am very happy here; but I want 
to go home and see my father and 


90 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


mother and brothers and sisters. Just 
let me go for a short time and I will 
soon be back again.” 

“I don’t wish you to go,” said she; 
“I am very much afraid that some- 
thing will happen to you. However, 
if you wish to go, you shall. Take 
this box and be very careful not to 
open it. If you open it you will never 
be able to come back here.” 

Urashima promised to take great care 
of the box, and not to open it. Then, 
getting into his boat, he rowed off, and 
at last landed on the shore of his own 
country. 

Strange things had happened since 
he went away. His father’s cottage 
was gone. The village where he used 
to live was gone. The mountains, in- 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


91 


deed, were there as before, but the 
trees on them had been cut down. The 
little brook that ran close to his father’s 
cottage was still running, but there 
were no women washing clothes in it 
any more. It seemed very strange that 
everything should have changed so 
much in three short years. Just then 
two men chanced to pass along the 
beach, and Urashima went up to them. 

“Can you tell me,” he said, “what has 
become of Urashima’s cottage, which 
used to stand here?” 

“Urashima!” said they; “why! it was 
four hundred years ago that he was 
drowned while out fishing. His parents, 
his brothers, and their grandchildren 
died long ago. It is an old, old story. 
How can you be so foolish as to 


92 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


ask after his cottage? It fell to pieces 
years and years ago.” 

Then it suddenly flashed across Ura- 
shima’s mind that the Sea-God’s palace 
beyond the waves, with its coral walls 
and its ruby fruits and its dragons with 
tails of solid gold, must be a 1 part of 
fairyland, and that one day there was 
as long as a hundred in this world. For 
a minute he felt very sad, but of course 
there was no use in staying at home, 
now that all his friends were dead and 
buried, and even the village had passed 
away. 

“I will go back to fairyland,” he said, 
“and to the Dragon-Princess beyond the 
sea.” But how was he to get there? 
Could he find the way with no one to 
show him? “Perhaps,” thought he, “if 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


93 


I open the box I shall be able to find 
the way.” So he disobeyed the princess 
— or perhaps he forgot— foolish boy 
that he was! As he opened the box, a 
pure white mist came out -of it and 
floated away over the sea. Urashima 
shouted to the mist to stop, and he re- 
membered now what the princess had 
told him. “Alas, alas, I shall never be 
able to go the Sea-God’s palace again!” 
he sobbed. 

Suddenly his hair grew as white as 
snow, his face grew wrinkled, and his 
back became bent like that of a very 
old man. Then his breath stopped and 
he. fell down dead on the beach. 


“Poor Urashima,” the nurse would 
gay when she had finished the story, 


94 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“he died because he was foolish and 
disobedient. If he had done as he was 
told, he might have lived another thou- 
sand years.” 

Then she would look very solemn, and 
Kaga too would look very solemn. For 
he knew that the nurse wished him to 
learn from this story that he must never 
be disobedient and that he must never 
forget his promises. 


KAGA IN SCHOOL. 


Very early in the morning, if you 
were in Japan, you would see the 
children going to school. You would 
hear the clickety clack of their odd 
little sandals as they walk along. Often 
the children keep step one with another, 
but now and then they romp and dance 
and run and laugh and talk. 

In the days of the Mikado only boys 
went to school and the girls were taught 
at home. But now the girls go to school 
as in this country, and very bright 
scholars they are, too. 

Little Kaga was very proud indeed 
when they let him join the children 
who each morning passed over the 
bridge to the schoolmaster. He looked 

95 


96 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 



very pretty with his paper umbrella 
under liis arm, a copy-book, and a rice- 
jar. 


LITTLE KAGA AT SCHOOL. 

The school house was very queer, you 
would think. Indeed, if Japanese chil- 
dren were not very well behaved, they 
would knock it down as they went in 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


97 


and out. But one of the first lessons 
a Japanese baby learns is to be very 
polite and gentle and obedient always. 
They are taught to be especially re- 
spectful to teachers, because book- 
learning is looked upon with great re- 
spect in the country of Japan. 

"Kaga’s school house was only a one 
story building. It could be moved from 
district to district, and it was built of 
paper screens and wooden partitions 
like shutters. The roof was very high 
pitched like a tent, for this is the favorite 
fashion of roof both in China and in 
Japan. 

Kaga’s sister, Yone Santo, had made 
a bag for him in which to carry the 
rice- jar. On this bag she had embroi- 
dered all kinds of butterflies like those 


98 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


she had seen flying over the lovely iris 
fields, or hovering about the wisteria 
blossoms on the garden trellises. 

The school room floor was covered 
with snow-white matting. There were 
bright squares of wadded silk scattered 
upon the floor. On these squares the 
children sat with their little legs curled 
up beneath them. In front of each 
square was an odd little bureau, just big 
enough for a big doll, in which the 
books, the India ink, the rice paper, and 
the brushes were kept. There were no 
tardy scholars here, but it was not be- 
cause there was any punishment for 
tardiness. There could be no greater 
punishment to a little Japanese boy 
than to be absent at the moment when, 
all together, the children bid the teacher 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“Odenasi,” which means “Be pleased to 
make your honorable entrance.” 

Before the teacher comes the chil- 
dren arrange themselves quietly in a 
straight line. When they hear the sound 
of his geta at the entrance, they draw 
in their breath with a long, hissing 
sound which shows that they are awed 
and pleased at his approach. Then> 
after the first greeting, each child says 
some complimentary word or phrase 
like “Ohyo” (Good day), or “Irrashai” 
(Please deign to enter). 

When Kaga’s teacher took his place 
upon his own square, each scholar went 
to a square set apart for his use. Then 
each one called out the number of the 
lesson in reading. When it was time 
to learn a new lesson the teacher read 

L. of C. 


100 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


it aloud, very quietly and slowly, so 
that the children might be able to recite 
the lesson after him. When each child 
can recite it alone the master says: 
“Now the lesson is learned.” 


HOW THE PEACH BOY DE- 
STROYED THE DEMONS. 


“When I am a man I shall be very 
brave,” said Kaga to his nurse one day. 

“ Oh, yes,” said the nurse with a laugh, 
“yon will be as brave as the Little 
Peach Boy.” 

“Who was the Little Peach Boy?” 
asked Kaga. 

In reply the nurse told him this story: 

An 0 baa San (an old woman) was 
one day walking beside a clear moun- 
tain brook. 

“ How clear its waters are,” said 0 
baa San to herself. “ I can count every 
pebble at the bottom. I can see every 
little three-tailed gold fish as it swims.” 

Just at that moment something large 
101 , 


102 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


and round and soft came rolling down 
on the other side of the stream. 

“ Why !” gasped 0 baa San in aston- 
ishment, “it is a peach! I never saw 
one so large and red and beautiful. 
How I wish I might reach it.” 

0 baa San went to the water’s edge 
and with a long stick she tried to reach 
the beautiful peach. But, though she 
got the longest stick she could find and 
leaned far out over the stream, the 
peach was always just beyond her reach. 

At length 0 baa San sat back on the 
bank discouraged and looked at the 
peach. 

“ Oh, come a little nearer ! Just roll a 
few inches nearer and I can reach you!” 
she cried. 

Imagine her astonishment when the 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN. 


103 


peach rolled over in the stream until it 
was just in front of her. She .picked it 
up and carried it home. 

“How glad 0 jii San will be to have 
that peach for his supper !” she said as 
she was turning the rice cakes. “There 
is nothing he likes so well as rice cake 
and peaches.” 

It was not long until the old woman 
heard 0 jii San slipping off his straw 
sandals at the door. 

“0 jii San! 0 jii San!” she cried; 
“guess what we have for our supper!” 

“Well) well!” laughed 0 jii San; “I 
think we have some of those famous 
rice cakes which you make so well.” 

“Yes,” said 0 baa San, “but we have 
something more.” Then she showed 
him the great peach. 


104 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


0 jii San’s eyes opened wide with 
wonder when he saw such a large 
peach. “In whose garden did that 
peach grow ?” he asked. 

“ Indeed, I do not know,” said 0 baa 
San, “for I found it floating down the 
stream. When I begged it to come to 
me it at once rolled over, the stones 
until it was just beneath my hand.” 

“Wonderful!” said 0 jii San. “It 
was surely meant for us. Let us eat it 
at once.” 

0 baa San hurried to get a knife. 
“Out it just through the center,” she 
said. 

Just as 0 jii San raised the knife to 
cut the peach he thought he heard a 
voice, saying: “0 jii San, wait! Wait, 0 
jii San ! I am coming !” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


105 


“ What was that ?” cried the old man, 
dropping the knife in his surprise. 

“ It was a voice and it came from the 
peach,” said his wife. 

Just at that moment the peach split 
from top to bottom, and, as the two 
halves divided, out danced a beautiful 
•little boy. 

“ Do not fear me, 0 baa San,” he said. 
“Do not fear me, O jii San. Did I not 
hear you wishing for a little child, to be 
your comfort in your old age - ? I have 
come to be your child.” 

0 baa San and 0 jii San were wild 
with delight at having a beautiful child 
of their own. 

“Our little peach boy!” they cried as 
they took him in their arms. “Our 
little peach boy !” So it was that the 
child was always called the Peach Boy. 






LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


107 


The years passed very quickly to the 
little Peach Boy and to 0 jii San and 0 
baa San. 

“ Our child has grown to be a man,” 
said 0 jii San one day. 

a Yes, and see how handsome and 
brave and strong he is growing,” said 
0 baa San. 

“He is the strongest young man in 
all Japan,” said 0 jii San. 

As they sat talking, the Peach Boy 
came into the room. He was tall and 
handsome. His blue kimono was rich 
and beautiful. He bowed before 0 jii 
San and 0 baa San as a respectful 
Japanese always does bow. 

“Father,” said the Peach Boy, “you 
have been very kind to me. I have 
been very happy in all the years I have 


108 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


had my home with yon. You have 
always taught me wisely, and I have 
obeyed you. Now, father, I have a re- 
quest to make of' you.” 

“Let us hear what it is that you wish, 
my son,” said 0 jii San. “You know 
that, if it be possible to grant your re- 
quest, we will do so, fQr you haveTbeen 
a dutiful son to us.” 

“Father, I wish to go away from 
home.” 

“Go away !” cried 0 baa San. “Oh, 
my son, you do not wish tQ leave your 
old parents?” 

“No, mother,” said the Peach Boy; 
“I do not wish to leave you, and I will 
return as soon as it is possible; but I 
have work to do.” 

“Where are you going?” asked 0 jii 
San. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


109 


“On the farthest shores of Japan,” 
said the Peach Boy, “there is a rugged 
island. No one has ever returned who 
has crossed the narrow neck of land 
that separates it from the mainland. 
For on this island live three awful 
demons. They steal both people and 
gold from our country. I mean to go to 
their country and crush them with a 
single blow. I will bring back the 
stolen treasures, and, if the captives be 
yet alive, I will set them free. It is 
for this that I wish to leave you.” 

“do, my son; your arm is strong and 
I do not fear for you,” replied 0 jii San. 
But 0 baa San wept bitterly, for she 
feared that the Peach Boy would never 
return from Demon Land. 

The Peach Boy at once made ready 


no 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


for his journey. 0 baa San brought 
out his best kimono and put his lunch 
into a bag for him. 

“I will return as soon as my work is 
finished,” he said as he started. 

The Peach Boy traveled steadily 
northward all day long. Just at sun- 
set he sat down to eat his lunch. Hear- 
ing a sound behind him, he turned and 
saw a great, gaunt, yellow dog come 
bounding towards him. 

“Bow, wow!” said the dog. “This is 
my country. Get away at once or I 
will devour you.” 

“You poor dog,” said the Peach Boy; 
“I have come out to fight the enemies 
of Japan. Do you suppose I should 
fear you?” 

“Ohl.it is the Peach Boy,” said the 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Ill 


dog; and he put his tail between his 
legs and cowered before the young man. 
“I beg you to forgive me. I wish that 
I, too, might go with you to fight the 
enemies of Japan.” 

“You may come if you wish,” said 
the Peach Boy, and the dog followed 
him. 

They hurried on and soon came to a 
forest where the trees grew thick. Sud- 
denly there was a rustling in the 
branches overhead and an animal sprang 
to the ground and began bowing before 
the Peach boy. 

“Bow, wow,” barked the great dog. 
“Keep out of our path, you miserable 
monkey. We are going to fight the 
enemies of Japan.” 

The monkey paid no heed to the dog 


112 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


but went on bowing before the Peach 
Boy. 

“What do you wish?” the Peach Boy 
asked at last. 

“I, too, would go with you to fight 
the enemies of Japan,” said the monkey. 

The dog snarled and showed his 
teeth. 

“Be still,” said the Peach Boy; “the 
monkey may go with us also.” 

Then the three traveled on until the 
moon and the stars came out. As they 
turned a corner a curious bird sprang 
up from the ground. On its head was 
a crimson hood. On its body was a 
gown of seven colors. 

The dog and the monkey sprang at 
the bird and would have devoured it. 

“Stop!” cried the Peach Boy; “it is a 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


113 


curious bird. Perhaps it may be of 
use to us.” 

The bird bobbed its head before- the 
young man. 

“You are the Peach Boy,” it said. “I 
am a humble bird that lives in the 
wilderness. But I have heard of you. 
I wish to follow you if I may.” 

“You may be one of my followers,” 
said the Peach Boy to the bird, and it 
flew on beside him. 

It was now quite late, so the Peach 
Boy and his followers lay down to sleep. 
Though the monkey and the dog were 
enemies in the forest, they lay down 
side by side. Though the dog would 
quickly have devoured the bird at an- 
other time, the bird now perched on 
the dog’s shoulder without fear. 


114 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


The next day onr travelers came to 
a steep cliff which hung over the sea. 
From the edge of the cliff they could 
look across to Demon Island. The 
waves dashed up against the rocks so 
fiercely that it seemed as though, the 
demons- themselves must be driving 
them upon the beach. 

The dog, the monkey and the bird 
were all creatures of the dry land. They 
saw the height and fierceness of the 
waves and heard the loud roar as they 
beat against the rocks. The three crea- 
tures clung together and trembled. 

“What!” cried the Peach Boy, “are 
you cowards already? If you fear the 
roaring of the sea you need go no 
farther. Greater perils than these will 
be encountered after we reach the 
island. You may return to your homes.” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


115 


“Oh, forgive us!” cried the dog. 

“Oh, let us remain with you!” cried 
the monkey. 

“We shall not be afraid again!” cried 
the bird. 

So the Peach Boy consented, and they 
began to build a boat. When it was 
done the Peach Boy and his three fol- 
lowers went on board and the winds 
soon carried them out to sea. 

The dog, the monkey and the bird 
were very unhappy at first, but they 
said nothing. The Peach Boy praised 
them for their bravery. By and by 
they became used to the motion of the 
boat and were more comfortable. 

“Let us amuse the Peach Boy!” they 
said to each other. 

So the dog stood up on his hind legs 


116 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


and begged. He sat on the edge of 
the boat and barked until he could be 
heard far away. 

The monkey climbed upon the dog’s 
back and played tricks. He danced 
before the Peach Boy. He learned to 
walk like the bird. 

The bird perched on the monkey’s 
head and began to sing a mournful sort 
of song. 

How the Peach Boy laughed! 

“You are not cowards!” he said; “I 
am glad that I brought you with me.” 

Looking up, the travelers were sur- 
prised to see Demon Island close at 
hand. All around the island was a 
great, strong wall. The iron gates were 
closed and stoutly barred. 

“How shall we enter?” asked the' dog. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


117 


But the bird bowed before the Peach 
Boy. 

“ I have wings,” said the bird. “I will 
fly to the island and find out what the 
demons are doing.” 

Then he rose high in the air and was 
soon circling over the island of the 
demons. 

“Take warning! Take warning!” cried 
the bird, above the heads of the demons. 
“A great warrior is coming. With his 
strong army he will destroy you. If 
you wish to save your lives, yield at 
once.” 

The red demons, the blue demons 
and the black demons all looked up and 
laughed. 

“Do you think you can frighten us?” 
they said. “We are not afraid of a 
bird.” 


118 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Now, the bird was really very strong, 
and when he heard the red demons and 
the blue demons and the black demons 
laughing at him he grew angry. 

He swooped down and with one peck 
of his strong bill he struck off the head 
of a red dragon. Just at that instant 
the iron gate was burst open, and the 
dog and the monkey rushed in. They 
barked and howled and scratched and 
bit and fought so fiercely that the 
demons cried for mercy. Great rocks 
also came rolling down on the red and 
blue and black demons. Their cries 
were louder than the sound of the waves 
beating on the shore. 

At last only one demon was left. He 
was larger and stronger and more ter- 
rible to look at than all the rest. But 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


119 


when he saw that all his companions 
had been destroyed, he surrendered. 
He threw down his weapons and broke 
off his horns, to show that he would 
fight no longer. 

In vain he begged the Peach Boy to 
have mercy. 

“You have not been merciful to our 
people whom you have taken captive,” 
said the Peach Boy. “Neither will I 
be merciful to you.” 

The monkey tied a stroDg rope around 
the demon and the dog held him firmly. 
The bird and the monkey then gathered 
up a great load of the treasure they 
found in the castles of the demons. 
They also released all the captives. 

Then the travelers, with their load 
of treasures, the released prisoners and 


120 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


the captive demon, journeyed home- 
ward. 

They did not stop until they had told 
their story to the king and had received 
rich rewards and much praise. 

The little army then disbanded. The 
dog returned to his home. The monkey 
went back to his tree. The bird went 
back to his home among the rocks. 

“Sayonara (good-bye), little Peach 
Boy!” they said. “If ever again you 
need an army to destroy the enemies 
of Japan, come for us.” 

“ Sayonara, good friends,” replied the 
Peach Boy. “You have been brave 
and faithful and true. When I find 
more enemies of Japan, I shall surely 
call on you. Now I must return home 
to my father, 0 jii San, and my 
mother, 0 baa San.” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


121 


So, after many days, the Peach Boy 
returned and found 0 jii San and 0 
baa San waiting proudly for their 
brave boy, who, by his wisdom, had 
overcome the demons of Demon land. 


“That is a fine story,” said Kaga. 
“I hope I may some day be able to 
destroy the enemies of Japan, also.” 

“There are enemies of Japan inside 
of you,” said the nurse, “if you do not 
love your country and your parents, if 
you do not grow up to be an honest 
man, or if you are selfish. Be sure 
to conquer them.” 


ON THE ROAD TO NIKKO. 


On each New Year’s morning Kaga 
woke arid shook the rice and beans from 
his head. These had been thrown over 
his face, to waken him, by his father and 
mother, because of an ancient custom 
which they would not have omitted for 
anything. As they threw the rice they 
made three wishes: hirst, that Kaga 
should be delivered from Oni, the 
Japanese Satan; second, that he should 
have good health; third, that good luck 
and happiness might go with him 
through the year. 

On each New Year’s Day they gave 
him a new motto. On this New Year’s 
Day what do you think the motto was ? 
This was it: “Of no account are riches, 
122 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 123 

of less is poverty; the only great and 
real pleasure in living is that we are 
alive.” On this day his sisters were 
dressed in bright and new kimonos, and 
he himself was given new silk clothes 
for a New Year’s present. 

Soon after breakfast the children 
went forth to say their New Year’s 
greetings to their nearby relatives. 
How happy they were when the time 
came for the relatives to give them the 
New Year’s greetings and presents! On 
their return home they ate mochi and 
fish and sweetmeats enough to make 
them ill. 

Kaga’s mother, however, knew a way 
to prevent the illness which might have 
followed. You can never guess what 
it was. Poor Kaga; how he dreaded 


124 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


it, and how ho longed to run away! But 
he must obey; so when his mother 
called him he went to her trembling. 
She took a small, diamond-shaped 
moxas, or burning herb, and placed it 
upon his spine as he lay on his mat. 
Then she lighted the herb and allowed 
it to burn its way into Kaga’s delicate 
skin. Is it any wonder that poor Kaga 
shrieked with pain? 

She was very sorry to hurt her child, 
but of course she could not allow him 
to be ill. Often the tears came into her 
own eyes, and to comfort him she would 
promise him a visit to some one of his 
aunts and uncles who lived in places 
far away. 

One of these visits was made to an 
uncle living at Nikko. Kaga started 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


125 


out early one morning in his father’s 
jinrikisha. It was great fun at first, 
but as the bearers trotted along hour 
after hour, Kaga began to find it 
very dull. Here and there vast rice 
fields came into view, partly covered 
with snow; but the farmers were 
already at work getting ready for the 
rice planting. He looked eagerly for 
the first sight of Fujiyama, that great 
snow-capped volcano which you often 
see in the background of the Jap- 
anese pictures. Sometimes they passed 
through gloomy cedar forests and 
through groves where bamboo stood 
side by side like groves of giant sugar- 
cane. 

Kaga’s father thought this was a good 
chance to tell his child something about 


126 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 



SERVING GIRL IN JAPANESE TEA HOUSE. 

his relatives, whom he had not seen 
since he was a very little boy. He 
warned him also that he would find 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


127 


many customs different from those 
which he knew at home. For instance, 
he would find that his aunt carefully 
kept up the custom of Cha-no-yu, a sort 
of formal tea-drinking party, at which 
beautiful works of art are exhibited. 
The people talk about them, and each 
old family preserves its bronzes, porce- 
lains and ivory carvings to exhibit at 
these social gatherings. 

Father Amano told Kaga that he 
would now show him the fine collection 
of these treasures which his own uncle 
had made. Kaga was very much pleased, 
for his teachers had said that Kaga him- 
self had great taste for these things and 
might become an artist if properly 
taught. 

Kaga wondered why his uncles and 


128 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


cousins had different customs from his 
own, and his father tried to explain to 
him that a great war once took place in 
the country, and that after that there 
was great changes in Japan. The peo- 
ple who were conquered defended the 
ancient customs and would never adopt 
the new fashions that came into the 
country. They clung to all the old ways, 
and those were very different from 
those which had come into the country 
in late years, since the Dutch and Amer- 
ican and English began to come to 
Japan to trade. 

“Will my honorable uncle not talk 
to me in French and English?” asked 
Kaga. 

“I think not,” replied his father, “un- 
less he has changed his ideas since I 
saw him last.” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 129 

“Tell me more about the war,” asked 
Kaga. “I have read of the older wars 
at school, but I have not read of this 
one.” 

This is the story Kaga’s father told : 

“In the beginning of the seventeenth 
century the Mikado shut himself up in 
his own palace like the idols you see in 
the temple. He could be reached only 
by the priests who surrounded him. He 
never even stepped from his carriage 
of state, but was carried everywhere by 
a retinue of nobles who delighted to 
act as servants of their ruler. Matters 
relating to the good of the country were 
not brought to the Mikado himself, but 
to the Shoguns or the Tycoons, as we call 
them now. In these early days these 
men were both able and true, and no 


130 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Mikado could have ruled more wisely 
than they. But by and by these Tycoons 
grew proud and quarrelsome, with each 
other. Bach Tycoon, like the Mikado, 
had his court and capital in Tokio, 
which was then called Yeddo. There 
all noblemen were forced to come once 
a year to do him homage as he himself 
paid homage to the Mikado. 

“Many of our countrymen now call 
these men usurpers of the power of the 
Mikado, and thus abused them. But 
for three centuries they ruled in the 
place of the Mikado so justly and wisely 
that there was no complaint. Your 
grandfather and his father before him 
believed in the Tycoons and fought for 
them when the . terrible war broke out. 
In fact, they gave their lives to them, 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


131 


for they were wounded in the battle of 
Fujima, near Tokio.” 

“Tell me more about my grand- 
father,” interrupted Kaga. 

“You were too young, my son, to un- 
derstand these things in those days, but 
you must always remember that there 
are brave men who fight on both sides 
in any war. One must study and un- 
derstand both sides before one can 
judge 

“ The Mikado was helped by foreign- 
ers in this war, and we must be very 
kind to those who were defeated, for 
they were made very poor by the war. 
Indeed, so loyal and brave were they 
that they refused to receive help from 
the hand of a conqueror, because it 
seemed to them cowardly and treacher- 
ous.” 


132 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Kaga thought his father’s words over 
for some time. Then his father asked 
him to repeat some of the good things 
from the Chinese books of Confucius 
and other sages which he had been 
learning at school. Kaga drew himsel 
up very straight and began to recite: 

“ The error of one moment becomes 
the sorrow of the whole life,” said he. 

“ That is good.” said Kaga’s father. 

“He who pursues the stag regards 
not hares,” said Kaga. 

“A very wise saying, my boy,” said 
Kaga’s father. 

Here are other sayings which Kaga 
repeated to his father. I wonder if 
you know what they mean. 

The gem cannot be polished without 
friction, nor can man be perfected 
without trial. 


133 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 

Ivory is not obtained from rats’ 
teeth. 

A bird can roost but on one branch, 
a mouse can drink no more than its 
till from a river. 

You cannot strip two hides off one 
cow. 

Who swallows quickly can chew but 
little. 

What cannot be told had better not 
be done. 

The torment of envy is like a grain 
of sand in the eye. 

Dig a well before you are thirsty. 

Learn to swim with one foot on the 
ground. 

A diligent pen supplies memory and 
thought. 

Do not try your porcelain bowl 
against his earthern dish. 


134 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


He who toils in pain will eat with 
pleasure. 

The drunkard’s fault is not the 
wine’s but his own. 

The man who fights himself will be 
happier than he who fights with others. 

Let every man sweep the snow from 
before his own door and not busy 
himself about the frost on his neigh- 
bor’s tiles. 

By and by Kaga' and his father 
reached the Chiro, or castle, where his 
uncle lived. It was not far from the 
gorgeous cone of Fujiyama. The sun 
was just setting, and the base of the 
volcano was veiled in a blue mist. As 
they came nearer, a wonderful flush 
like that of dawn was thrown over the 
top of the lofty mountain, which is 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


135 


covered always with glistening snow. 
Soon this faded into a soft golden light 
and little Kaga held his breath in 
wonder and amazement. In all the 
years that came afterward, even when 
he was a grown man, he never forgot 
the beauty of the great Fujiyama. 

Great was the rejoicing at the 
arrival of Kaga and his father; and 
though they had not agreed in the war 
against the Tycoons, the two brothers 
were like boys again as they told little 
Kaga of their boyhood days and good 
times. 

Kaga’s uncle told him stories of the 
festival of Tanabata, and how once 
upon a time he, with Kaga’s father, 
went in gay procession down the street, 
shouting and beating tom-toms. This 


136 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 



festival was celebrated in honor of 
Altair and Vega, two star gods who 
live one on each side of the Milky Way. 


HOLIDAY SEASON. 

They go swimming in the great white 
river on the seventh night of the 
seventh moon, and all the day long they 
watch with care over the good little 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


137 


boys who go into the water on that 
day. This is the only day on which 
small boys are allowed to go in swimming 
in Japan, so it is no wonder that there 
are fewer boys drowned in Japan than 
in any other country. On this day his 
highness, the sea monkey, is bound 
and handcuffed so that little boys may 
swim. On every other day this wild 
monkey is supposed to be able to 
stretch out his long arms and draw into 
the current any boy found swimming 
without permission. 

Once, when the tiny ship lanterns 
which are sent floating out to sea at the 
close of this feast .day, Kaga’s father 
and his uncle went in swimming to 
see if they could catch up with them 
as they floated away. But Kaga’s 


138 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


father, half-way back to the shore, re- 
called that he had not asked his 
mother’s permission, and swam home 
for dear life. His brother, just for 
fun, reached under the water and 
caught at his foot. Kaga’s father was 
frightened almost to death, for he 
thought it was the horrible sea monkey, 
who is always watching for disobedient 
boys. 



PREPARING FOE THE WEDDING. 

years old, was soon to be settled in a 
home of her own. 

The soothsayer had done his work 
well, for he had brought her to the 
notice of a fine old Japanese family. 

139 


YUKI’S WEDDING. 


While Kaga was visiting his uncle’s 
home there was a wedding in the house. 
Little Yuki, Kaga’s cousin, now fifteen 


140 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


The father in this family had been 
looking for several days for a proper 
bride for his son, and when he saw 
Yuki he was pleased with her. She 
was a gentle and affectionate little girl 
who had hardly ever been known to 
say an angry word. She was, besides, 
most docile and obedient. 

During the last few years Yuki had 
studied very carefully those books 
which tell the duties of a Japa- 
nese wife, and so was quite ready to 
have a home of her own. In one of 
these books she read such things as 
these: 

“It is the chief duty of a girl living 
in a parental house to practise filial 
piety toward her father and mother. 

“But after marriage her chief duty 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


141 


is, to honor her father-in-law and 
mother-in-law; to honor them beyond 
her own father and mother, to love and 
reverence them with all ardor, and to 
attend them with filial piety. 

“While thou honorest thine own 
parents, think not lightly of thy father- 
in-law. 

“Never should a woman fail, night 
and morning, to pay hef respects to her 
father-in-law and her mother-in-law. 

“Never should she be remiss in per- 
forming any task they may require 
of her. 

“With all reverence must she carry 
out, and never rebel against, her 
father-in-law’s commands. 

“On every point must she inquire of 
her father-in-law and mother-in-law, 
and must obey their direction. 


142 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“Even if thy father-in-law and 
mother-in-law be pleased to hate thee, 
be not angry with them, and murmur 
not. 

11 If thou wilt carry piety toward 
them to the utmost limit, and minister 
to them in all sincerity, they will end 
by becoming friendly to thee.” 

Yuki was .very beautiful, Kaga 
thought. The first time he saw her in 
the garden she was dressed in a kimono 
of a rosy tint. He thought it was the 
same rosy tint that he had seen on 
the summit of Fujiyama. 

Yuki was beautiful indeed, accord- 
ing to the Japanese idea of beauty, 
though perhaps you might not 
have thought her so. Her face was 
long and narrow. Her forehead was 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


143 


high and pointed in the middle and 
wide at the base. Her hair was as 
black as the raven’s wing, straight and 
smooth. Her eyes were long and nar- 
row, slanting upward at the outer 
corners. Her eyebrows were narrow 
and were quite far away from the eyes; 
her nose long and straight, and low 
at the bridge. Her mouth was small, 
and she had full, red lips. Kaga thought 
her neck as slender as a swan’s. As 
she walked she turned her toes in in 
the proper fashion, and she made her 
sandals scuff at every step. 

The bridegroom had already sent 
her a beautiful girdle, and her mother 
had given her some silk cocoons. 
From these her husband’s clothes 
would be made by and by. 


144 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN. 


When Kaga first saw her she was 
playing battledore and shuttlecock. 
Her rosy sleeves fluttered here and 
there as she tossed the gay shuttlecock 
into the air and caught it deftly on 
her painted battledore. All the orna- 
ments in her hair quivered and 
sparkled as she played. When she 
saw Kaga she remembered her lessons 
of etiquette and bowed very low, 
touching the ground with her forehead. 

Yuki and Kaga became good friends 
at once, am} she took him to see the 
silk cocoons. A number of peasant 
women, dressed in blue cotton kimo- 
nos, were seated upon the floor. 
Beside each one was a copper basin 
filled with clean hot water, and in 
this each cocoon was soaked. Rings 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


145 



of metal were fastened to the edge 
of the basin. The hot water dissolved 
the gum which coated the silk and 


CARING FOR SILK WORMS. 

made the coil hold together. The 
women stirred the cocoons about in 
the water with a twig. Soon there 
were loose threads floating in the 



146 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


water. The women then passed four 
of these silk threads through each ring, 
for this was to be the finest of weaving. 
In their right hand they held a reel, 
upon which they wound the creamy 
yellow silk when they had freed it 
from the cocoons. 

In due time the wedding day arrived 
and the house was filled to overflow- 
ing. There were many guests, for 
little Yuki was proud to invite her 
friends to meet the young man whose 
parents had sought her out. She had 
seen him but a few times, but she had 
been taught that if she were .sweet and 
docile and kind her life would be 
happy, and that upon these virtues her 
happiness depended. 

All the bride’s new clothes and 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


147 


household goods had been sent to 
the house of her husband’s father 
a week before. There were kimonos 
for all seasons, and handsome sashes 
without number, for her clothes were 
expected to last her all her life. Her 
father and brother, who loved the 
little girl dearly, had thought nothing 
too beautiful or too costly to give her. 
Among other gifts from them was a tiny 
bureau. You would have thought it only 
high enough for a doll, but as Yuki 
always sat upon a mat upon the floor 
when she arranged her hair, it was 
exactly the right height. 

Another gift was a low desk or table 
for writing. Another, a workbox; 
another, a set of lacquer trays upon 
which to serve the meals. Everybody, 


148 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 



from the grandfather to the youngest 
grandchild, brought some present to 
her, and they sent a present to every 
member of the groom’s family as well. 


JAPANESE LADIES AT LUNCH. 

When the evening of the day came 
Yuki was carried in a jinrikisha, with 
her own maid, to her husband’s home. 
The ceremony was very formal and 


LITTLE PEOPLE OE JAPAN. 


149 


solemn. At last the bride and groom 
drank saki together from the same 
cup. This was to show that each would 
share in the joys and sorrows of the 
other. . No one saw this ceremony but 
the maid who was the cup bearer, and 
the soothsayer, who has to suffer if the 
marriage is not happy. 

When this was over, the guests in 
the next room watched anxiously for 
the time when the screen should be 
pushed away and the happy bride and 
groom would come out to enjoy the 
wedding feast. There were all sorts 
of sweetmeats, and fruits and vege- 
tables and game were served in their 
order. Kaga’s little cousin was not 
required to blacken her teeth after 
marriage, for her father-in-law and 


150 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


mother-in-law did not believe in that 
ancient custom. And so they gleamed 
snowy white between her rosy lips 
when she smiled at Kaga. 

Three days afterward Yuki came to 
a party given by her father and mother 
to the friends of both families. It 
was then that Yuki brought beautiful 
presents from the groom’s to her own 
family. These were in return for the 
presents given her on her wedding 
day. This party began in the early 
afternoon and the guests did not go 
away until late at night. There was 
a fine feast, and after that some play- 
ers came, and there were beautiful 
dances. 

The bride stood all this time by her 
mother’s side. She bowed and smiled 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


151 


and presented to each guest some red 
rice or mochi as a token of her thanks. 
Kaga wondered why his aunt cried 
when she bowed good-by to her 
daughter at the door, and why his 
father and uncle looked so sad. But 
this was because, from that moment, 
little Yuki’s name was taken from the 
list of her father’s family, and she now 
belonged forever and forever to the 
family of her husband. 


AFTER THE WEDDING. 


After little Yuki had gone from 
home the house seemed strangely si- 
lent, and Kaga wandered about hardly 
knowing what to do with himself. 

Yuki was so tiny and so quiet that 
it seemed queer to Kaga he should 
miss her so much. But he often 
found himself wishing that she would 
come back. 

One evening Kaga wandered down 
one of the little paths in the garden, 
thinking that on the very next morn- 
ing he would ask his father to take 
him home. He was too lonely since 
Yuki had gone. 

But suddenly Kaga came upon some 
one who made him forget all about 


152 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


153 


going home. Sitting in the shade of 
the trees - Kaga saw a very old man. 
His face was wrinkled' and brown. His 
little black eyes were merry. His 
shoulders were very broad and straight, 
for he had once served in the army 
of the Mikado. 

Kaga knew this old man at once to 
be one of whom Yuki had once spoken 
to him. She had told Kaga what won- 
derful stories the old man could tell. 
So Kaga drew near and very respect- 
fully bowed three times. Each time 
his forehead touched the ground in 
proper Japanese fashion. 

The old man looked at Kaga and 
laughed merrily. He no doubt thought 
him a very polite boy. 

“Do you go to school?” asked the 
old man. Kaga told him that he did. 


154 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“Then,” said the old man, “perhaps 
you can tell me the cause of the earth- 
quake last week. The houses were 
shaken about so that some of them 
were broken to pieces. Great cracks 
came in the earth. Can you tell me 
what made this earthquake?” 

But Kaga could tell the old man no 
reason for the earthquake. 

“Sit down,” said the old man, “and 
I will tell you. In the great ocean 
east of us there is an immense fish. 
Its mouth is so large that it could 
swallow this whole city at once. Its 
tail is so powerful that with one blow 
it could flatten all the mountains of 
Japan. 

“It is seven hundred miles long and 
it holds the world on its back. Its 


LITTLE PEOI'LE OP JAPAN. 


155 


head is supposed to be near our own 
country and its tail is far away — seven 
hundred miles north of here. 

“Sometimes the earthquake fish 
grows angry. Then it wriggles and 
lashes about in the water. It is that 
which causes all Japan to shake. It is 
that which makes the houses fall and 
and the earth crack. 

“The people of Japan should be very 
careful not to anger the earthquake 
fish, for it could easily destroy the 
whole country.” 

Kaga listened with wide open eyes 
while the old man told this story. 
When he had finished Kaga begged 
for another. 

It was past sunset when Kaga at 
last went back under the cherry trees 


156 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


to his uncle’s home. He had entirely 
forgotten that he had meant to ask his 
father to take him home, for the old 
man had promised to tell him a story 
every day that Kaga would meet him 
under the cherry trees. 

For many days Kaga and his father 
visited at his uncle’s home, but at last 
their visit ended . and they returned 
to their own city. 

Many were the stories which Kaga 
had to tell of the wonderful journey he 
had taken; of little Yuki’s wedding, 
and of the tales which the old man 
told him under the cherry trees. 

“Oh, I wish you might have gone, 
too !” said Kaga to his brothers and 
sisters. 

“Perhaps we shall go the next time,” 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


157 


they replied. “Then we will tell you 
stories. Do tell us another one now, 
Kaga!” 

So, with the other children sitting 
around him, he told them the stories 
which he had heard from the old man. 


THE MAGIC MIRROR. 


But though Kaga now went to 
school, and flew kites and played with 
the big boys, there was still nothing 
he liked better than to hear the old 
Japanese stories, of which there are 
so many. 

One night, as the children all sat 
around the little charcoal stove, the 
elder sister told them the story of the 
magic mirror. 

“It’s the very best story of them 
all!” the children cried when the sister 
had finished. 

I wonder if you would think so, too, 
if I should tell it to you. 

A man and his wife lived in a little 
village a few miles from Tokyo. For 

158 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


159 


years they dwelt in a cottage by them- 
selves, but one day a little daughter 
was born. 

As she grew older, this daughter was 
the joy of her parents’ hearts. They 
wondered how they had ever lived 
without her. The house seemed very 
lonely even when she went for a single 
day to visit with some little playmate. 

One day, when the little girl came 
in from play, she found her father 
and mother talking together. 

“Your father is going to the great 
city of Tokyo to-morrow,” said the 
mother. “There he will see the palace 
of the Mikado, and the wonderful 
shops full of toys and silks and beau- 
tiful lacquered ware.” 

“Oh, I wish I might go with you, 
father!” cried the little girl. 


160 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“Not this time, my daughter,” replied 
her father. “But I will bring you a 
present from the great city.” 

“What will you bring mother?” 
asked the daughter. 

“Oh, something very beautiful,” said 
he with a laugh. 

The next morning very early the 
father started on his journey! His 
new silk kimono was of beautiful gray 
and blue; his paper umbrella was red 
and white. His servant who drew the 
jinrikisha was swift and strong. 

“I shall be back before night,” said 
the father as he was whirled away. 

All day long the little girl played 
in the garden and her mother sat and 
sewed on the broad piazza. Each of 
them wondered many times what the 
father would bring when he returned. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


1GI 


Just at sunset the little girl heard 
the sound of wheels approaching. 

“Father is coming,” she cried, and 
ran out to meet him. “What did you 
bring, father? What did you bring?” 

“ I brought this for you,” he answered, 
and held out a beautiful doll with its 
black hair stuck as full of ivory pins 
as was the little daughter’s own. It 
wore a gorgeous silk kimono of rose 
and blue. 

“It is beautiful,” the little girl cried, 
hugging the doll. “What did you 
bring for mother?” 

“This,” he said, handing a mirror 
to his wife. “When you look into it 
you will see something very beautiful.” 

The wife took the mirror and looked 
into it. 


162 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


“ What is it ?” she asked, for she had 
never seen a mirror before. 

“That is your own face which you 
see reflected there,” said her husband. 
“Here in the country there are no 
mirrors, but in the large cities they 
may be bought. Be careful of this.” . 

“Indeed, I will keep it carefully,” 
replied the wife. “I will keep it and 
give it to our little daughter on her 
wedding day.” 

The father and mother and daughter 
lived very happily for a time. Then 
the mother became ill. She grew 
worse and worse, until one day when 
the docter came to see her he gave 
her no medicine, but took the spoon 
from which she had been given her 
medicine and threw it away. Then 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


163 


the father and daughter wept, for when 
a Japanese doctor throws away the 
spoon he means that the sick person 
cannot live. 

That night the mother called her 
daughter to her side. 

“When I am no longer here,” she 
said, “you will miss me. You will 
grieve and the house will be lonely. ” 

Then from a lacquered box she 
drew forth the mirror. 

“Do you remember the time when 
your father brought this beautiful 
mirror home to me? It was a more 
wonderful present than he thought. 
This is a magic mirror. After I am 
dead, whenever you feel sad and lonely, 
take this mirror from its box and look 
in it. I shall be near you then in 
spirit and I will comfort you.” 


164 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


That very night the mother died and 
the father and daughter were wild 
with grief. Days and days passed, 
but still the daughter was sad and 
wept bitterly. 

Suddenly one day she remembered 
what her mother had said about the 
magic mirror. She ran to the box and 
opened it. She gazed into the mirror 
and there, instead of seeing ,her own 
face, she saw that of her mother. Her 
mother’s face was smiling, and looked 
younger and more beautiful even than 
it had in life. 

“Mother! Mother!” cried the girl, 
and she looked long into the mirror, 
and was comforted. 

At last she put the mirror back in 
its box, but the sadness had vanished 
from her face. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN. 


165 


After a year had passed the girl’s 
father took another wife. For a time 
all went well. The new wife seemed 
to love his daughter, and the father 
was pleased. 

But by and by a change came and 
the little family was not so happy as 
it had been. One day the new wife 
went to her husband with a sad face. 

“I shall have to leave my pleasant 
home,” she said; “I cannot stay.” 

“Why?” asked the husband in sur- 
prise. “Have I not been kind to you? 
Are you not happy with me ?” 

“Alas, yes! I have been happy,” 
she answered, weeping. “I could be 
happy with you always, but I dare not 
remain. I fear for my life.” 

“Your life in danger! That cannot 


166 


LITTLE PEOPLE OP JAPAN. 


be ! Who would harm you ?” cried the 
husband, more surprised than ever. 

“Your daughter,” said the wife, “has 
planned to harm me by magic. For 
hours she sits in her room and gazes 
at something in her hand. I believe 
it is my picture in wood. I fear your 
daughter.” 

But the husband laughed. “ My 
daughter would not harm you,” he 
said. “ Come, we will go to her and 
see the thing at which she looks so 
long.” • 

The husband and wife slipped quietly 
to the daughter’s room. There they 
saw her gazing at something she had 
in her hand. But when she heard the 
sound of their footsteps she hastily 
slipped it into her sleeve. 


LITTLE PEOP.LE OP JAPAN. 


167 


“Let me see what you have there,” 
said the father. Then the girl drew 
the mirror from her sleeve and slowly 
handed it to him. “Why,” he said, 
“this is only the^ mirror which I 
brought your mother from Tokyo. ” 

Then the girl told her father how 
when she was unhappy or lonely she 
would look into the mirror and her 
mother’s face was always there, just as 
her mother had promised. 

“Let us see,” said her father. 

The girl raised the mirror and gazed 
into it. Her own face. was reflected in 
the glass, but her father now under- 
stood why she had thought she saw 
her mother’s face. He drew the wife 
aside. 

“She does not know that it is her 


168 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


own beautiful face which she sees 
there,” he said. “And I do not won- 
der, for her face is strangely like her 
mother’s. You see that my daughter 
means you no harm.” 

“How glad I am!” said the wife. “I 
have been very foolish and unkind, but 
from this day I will try to take the 
place of the child’s beautiful mother, 
so that she need not be unhappy.” 


HOW KAGA LEARNED TO 
PAINT. 

When Kaga was learning to write 
he made his ink in a pretty bowl, the 
gift of his wealthy grandfather. But- 
terflies were painted upon the bowl, 
and it seemed to Kaga a pity to rub 
the black stick of India ink over their 
bright wings; his ink bowl looked like 
a little pond with the butterflies hover- 
ing around the border of the black 
water. 

This ink would not stain Kaga’s 
kimono, although it seemed to flow 
from the brush like oil. Kaga was 
not allowed to touch his wrist or elbow 
to the desk as he wrote. Neither was 
the paper laid upon the desk; instead, 

169 





















-v- 


« 

H 


*■•**•*«*.* *. 46 -... 


THE FLOWER SELLER 










LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


171 


he -held it in his left hand. It was 
more like painting than writing, and 
by and by, when Kaga was given a 
few simple colors, he found that, he 
paint almost as easily as he could write. 

In Kaga’s home were many beauti- 
ful banners on which were written 
the histories of Kaga’s ancestors. 
Often Kaga had seen his sister, Yone 
Santo, arrange the cherry blossoms in 
vases before these banners. Some- 
times it took her an hour, for she 
wished every leaf to look as natural as 
when it was on the tree. She would 
not allow the branches to cross, for 
that would not be so on the tree itself. 
Then, too, the most beautiful portions 
of the bough must be shown in front. 

Yone Santo never mixed flowers; 


172 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


each one was always surrounded by its 
own leaves, and so Kaga grew familiar 
with the looks of everything that 
bloomed during the year. He learned 
that the colors of the under side of the 
leaf threw shadows upon the upper 
side of others, and that the masses of 
flowers deepened in color as they 
shaded one another, or grew lighter 
where the sunlight fell across them. 
All these little things his bright eyes 
had noticed, so that he had a picture 
of them always in his mind. 

One day the teacher painted the 
blue flag, or iris, for his copy. He did 
this with only six strokes, and Kaga 
knew why the darker color was needed 
with the lighter green above it, and 
he could easily copy the curve of the 


LITTLE- PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


173 


three petals. His master was not 
quite satisfied with Kama’s picture. 
Still, he did not tell him what he had 
failed to do, as your teacher would 
have done. This was because he 
wished to teach the boy to think and 
notice for himself. 

What do you think Kaga had for- 
gotten to put into his picture of the 
iris? Why, the little touch of yellow 
which is always to be found between 
the upper and under outside petals. 
Kaga found this pretty yellow after 
a while, and then he worked more 
carefully. Never again did he forget 
those wonderful tints and forms which 
make even the poorest iris blossom so 
beautiful. 

How proud his father was when 


174 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


Kaga took home a picture he had 
painted of a great lotus blossom, just 
opening its gorgeous petals and with 
its leaves floating upon the still, silvery 
water! How he praised the child! 
He passed it around to be admired, 
and ran out to see if the water in the 
pond did really look like the water 
Kaga had painted. 

It certainly did, and Kaga’s father 
was sure his ' little boy would be an 
artist by and by. 


KAGA AT PLAY. 

Would yon like to know some of the 
games that Kaga played when he went 
out to recess each day? There were 
many of them, and had you been there 
you could have played them easily, 
for Japanese games are much like 
those which you play in your own 
school yard. 

There are tag, blind-man’s-buff, tug- 
of-war and leap-frog, although Kaga 
called this last tobi-koshi. There is 
a jumping game, too, called tobikko. 
In one game — “wind-jump”- — the boys 
jump toward a goal instead of running 
toward it. Another hopping game 
is chin chin mago mago. In this 
the boys hop from a mark, and the 

175 



176 


JAPANESE CHILDREN AT PLAY. 




LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


177 


one who can hop the farthest wins. 
This is somewhat like your game of 
hop-scotch. 

Kaga also played horse, but in a 
way which is quite similar to your 
game of leap-frog. One boy bends his 
back and takes hold of the girdle of 
another boy in front of him. A third 
boy rides upon the back of the second. 
This rider is called a tasho , or general. 
Six boys play at this game together, so 
that there are two leaders, two horses 
and two riders. Each general tries 
to pull the other generals from their 
horses, and the antics of the horses 
themselves are very funny. 

The smaller boys ride a bamboo 
stick on which a horse’s head is placed. 
Kaga had one of these bamboo sticks, 


178 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 



and he rode it just as you have seen 
a baby riding his father’s cane. 


READY TO PLAY BATTLEDORE AND SHUTTLECOCK. 


Kaga’s sisters were very fond of 
playing battledore and shuttlecock. 
The battledore is called a hagoita and 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


179 


is usually made of kiri wood or cedar. 
These battledores have pictures on one 
side, and the hago , or shuttlecock, is 
made of the seed of the mokuran, or 
soapberry tree. Into this seed several 
small, bright colored feathers are 
stuck, so that it is quite a gay looking 
toy. 

It is the custom in Japan to send a 
battledore and shuttlecock to a little 
girl upon her first birthday. An orna- 
mental set of bows and arrows, how- 
ever, are sent when a boy is born, 
and Japanese boys never play battle- 
dore and shuttlecock, although in our 
country it is as good a game for boys 
as it is for girls. 

The boys play with the shuttlecock, 
however, kicking it with their feet. 


180 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


This makes a football game, which the 
children call kemari , or “kicking-ball.” 

Some say that football was once a 
war game, and that Chinese soldiers 
played it' because it helped them in the 
tactics of war. The ball was then a 
round bag made of leather and filled 
with hair. It is said that the great 
Cheng Ti — an Emperor of the Han 
dynasty — took much pleasure in the 
game. 

We are told that football was first 
played in Japan in the time of the 
Empress Kogioku, who was very fond 
of watching the game, although she 
could not, of course, play it. Emperor 
Gotaba, who reigned in the twelfth 
century, praised the game very highly, 
and, some time, after, rules were made 
for it and football clubs formed. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


181 


There is a story told about an old 
emperor who was an excellent player. 
One day three strange men appeared 
before him. They seemed like children 
only three or four years old. They 
had bodies like monkeys and each had 
a name written on his forehead in 
golden letters. One was called “Spring 
Willow Blosson,” the second, “Summer- 
Rest Forest,” and the third, “Autumn 
Garden.” They said they had come to 
be the gods of the foot ball game. 
This is why the children of Japan 
always cry: “ Ya kwa,” “Anri,” and 
* l ‘En u” while playing the game, for 
these were the Chinese names of the 
three strange beings, whom the Jap- 
anese now worship as gods. 

You would have laughed to hear 


182 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 



Kaga choose a leader for a game. He 
would stand his playmates in a row and 
count them, saying these words: “Ha- 


KAGA’S SISTERS PLAYING FLOWER CARDS. 

nal-tai, Tou-al-tai , Sam-a-tj young, Na- 
al-tai , Ryouk-nang, Ke-tji, Hpal-tai , 
Tjang-koun, Ko-tou-rai , Pping 

What do you think these words mean? 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


183 


Why, they are just like your “Eenie, 
menie, minie, mo.” 

So you see children in Japan and 
children in America are quite alike in 
their games, although they are so unlike 
in nearly everything else. 


KITE FLYING. 


The fifth day of the fifth month is 
the Japanese boy’s Fourth of July. 

The children went out to the place 
of the tombs very early in the morning 
to say prayers before the shrine of 
the dear dead grandmother, for upon 
all joyous festival days the dead are 
remembered. 

On this day all Japan observes the 
festival of Hachiman, god of war. This 
Japanese war god is also the patron 
saint of all games of skill and chance, 
and so on this day all sorts of boys’ 
games are played by both the young 
and the old. The festival of flags, as 
Kaga was taught to call it, is especially 
interesting. You would call it a fes- 


184 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


185 


tival of kites, for the sky is full of 
them all day long. 

Wherever a boy has been born dur- 
ing the year, a special bamboo pole 
is placed before the house and at its 
top is a great paper fish with open 
mouth and flapping fins, swimming in 
the air. Tied to this pole by yards 
and yards of rice cord are other paper 
fishes. These are large and small, and 
there is one for every boy in the house. 

The reason for so queer a custom is 
this: the carp, like our salmon, is able 
to leap lightly over waterfalls when it 
wishes to reach the head of the stream 
where it makes its home. It is also 
able to swim against the swiftest current 
and cross the strongest tides. 

What the Japanese parents mean 


186 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


when they fly the fishlike kites from 
the poles below their houses is that 
their sons, like the carp, shall overcome 
all difficulties; they shall press on 
against life’s temptations until they 
become successful men. 

Sometimes these queer fish kites are 
so cleverly made that their eyes roll, 
and by means of a reed whistle placed 
in their open jaws they make a sound 
which is heard in the streets below. 

As there are thousands and thou- 
sands of these fish kites skimming and 
darting over the roofs of the Japanese 
houses, you can imagine how odd the 
town must look. The small boys watch 
these kites through the long day, 
much as you would watch the rockets 
sent off in the evening of our Fourth 
of July. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


187 


The Japanese boy has, however, fire- 
works as well as kites. These are 
always made in the form of fishes, 
instead of the flowers and other pretty 
shapes in which our fireworks come. 

There is another reason why kite 
flying is so common a sport in Japan. 
In olden times soldiers were largely 
guided by signs they saw in the sky. 
At one time, just before a battle, the 
Japanese soldiers were frightened by 
the appearance of falling stars. So 
their leader made a kite, tied on a small 
lantern for a bob, and sent it up into 
the dark sky. When the soldiers saw 
it they thought it was a new star and 
declared it a good omen. So they fought 
with great courage and won the battle. 
Ever since kites have always been sent 
up on the anniversary of the victory. 

















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188 


WORKMEN’S HOLIDAY IN JAPAN. 







LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


189 


These kites are made by men with 
whom kite-making is a regular trade. 
The kites are very gay and are sold 
for little. The best one costs only 
about ten cents of our money. The 
kite string is made of pure silk and is 
the most expensive part of the kite. 
It is only in the royal palace that a 
string of sky-blue may be used. 

Kaga saved his money for several 
months so that he might have the very 
finest kites in the village. When the 
day came he went to the bazaar and 
picked out two beautiful ones of the 
same size, though unlike in decoration. 
The old merchant told Kaga that these 
kites must be flown only on the fifth 
day of the fifth month; that if he 
should fly them after that time he 


190 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


would be laughed at. He told him 
also that on the fourteenth day of the 
first month he should write a wish on 
the kite he was to fly on the fifth day 
of the fifth month, so that the old 
year’s misfortunes might be carried 
away as the kites rise in the air. 

Mothers often write the wishes for 
their children and place upon the 
paper the names and dates of their 
births. These letters are hidden be- 
neath the bamboo frames and a piece 
of sulphur paper is fastened to the 
string. The sulphur paper is lighted, 
as the kite is sent up. By and by, 
when it is far enough up in the sky, the 
string burns through and the scapegoat 
kite is lost. With it is lost all the ill 
fortune of the old year. 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


191 


Kaga did not use the word “kite.” 
He called his kite a paper hawk if it 
proved very swift of wing; others he 
called wind-harps on account of a sing- 
ing and humming noise which they 
make as they spin off through the air. 
Often the kites are made in the shape 
of some fish or bird or animal. Kaga 
had one shaped like a fish'. Kaga’s 
big brother had one shaped like a 
dragon, and Kaga liked to watch it 
wriggling across the sky. 

On one of these festival days the big 
brother selected two flag kites and 
sent them up from a hill. “Let us 
have a duel,” he said. 

The two kites had silk strings which 
had been dipped in a fish glue mixed 
with powdered glass and porcelain. 


192 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


This is so that one kite string may cut 
another. The rule of the game is that 
both boys must let out their lines 
quickly. If they do not, one string 
will be caught and cut through by the 
other. 

Other boys joined in the game and 
often four or five strings became crossed 
as the kites went up. Kaga’s brother 
won, and his kite floated triumphantly 
in the air long after the others were 
cut down and carried away by the 
wind. The other boys had to go on a 
long search in the distant woods after 
their lost kites, for to lose a kite on 
this day would bring very bad luck. 

Sometimes a farmer will find one 
of these lost kites. When he does he 
takes it into the town and tries to find 


LITTLE PEOPLE OF JAPAN. 


193 


the owner, so that he may save him 
from the bad luck. The kite owner 
always pays the good farmer, and 
makes him a present. Then the farmer 
goes away thinking how kind the boy 
was, and the boy goes to his home 
thinking how good the farmer was to 
save him from a year of bad luck. 


THE END. 











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